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1910           1 

Ramsay, 

William 

Mitchell, 

1851-1939. 

Pictures 

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the 

apostolic 

r-VxiMrr^Vx 

Works  by  the  Same  Author 


G«  P.  Putnam^s  Sons 

The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire.     Net  $3.00. 
St.   Paul    the  Traveller   and   the    Roman    Citizen. 

Net  $3.00. 
Historical    Commentary    on    the    Epistle    to    the 

Galatians.      Net  $3.00. 
Was  Christ  Born  at  Bethlehem?     Net  ^1.75. 
The  Education  of  Christ.     Net  ^i.oo. 
Impressions  of  Turkey.     Net  ^1.75. 


George  H,  Doran  Company,  New  York 

The  Letters  to  the  Seven  Churches.     ^^3.00. 

The  Cities  of  St.  Paul.     ^3.00. 

Pauline  and  Other  Studies.     ^3.00. 

Luke  the  Physician.     ^3.00. 

Studies    in  the  Art   and    History  of  the    Eastern 

Roman  Provinces.     ^5.00. 
The    Revolution   in   Constantinople  and  Turkey. 

^3-75- 
The  'Ihousand  and  One  Churches.     ^5.00. 

Also  the  following  works  by  Lady  Ramsay 
Everyday  Life  in  Turkey.     $1.25. 
The   Romance  of  Elisavet :    A  Story  of  Modern 
Turkey.    ^1.25. 


John  Murray,  London 

The  Historical  Geography  of  Asia  Minor.     $4.00. 


The  Oxford  University  Press 

The    Cities  and    Bishoprics   of  Phry!2:ia.     Vol.   I, 
Part  I,  ^5.75  ;  Vol.  I,  Part  II,  ^"6.75. 


*     JAN  30  1911      * 


Pictures  of 
the  Apostolic  Church 

Its  Life  and  Thought 


BY  ^ 

SIR  WILLIAM   M.   RAMSAY 
D.D.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Litt.D. 

Professor  of    Humanity  in  the  University  of  Aberdeen 

formerly  Professor  of  Classical  Archeology, 

and  Fellow  of  Exeter  and  Lincoln 

Colleges,  Oxford 


M^^ 


Philadelphia 

The  Sunday  School  Times  Company 

igio 


Copyright,  igio, 

BY 

The  Sunday  school  Times  Company 


TTo  m^  wife 

tbe  companion  of  maws 

journeys 


PREFACE 

This  book  consists  of  fifty-two  Sections, 
fifty  of  which  were  written  for  The  Sunday 
School  Times  in  comment  upon  the  Interna- 
tional Lessons  of  1909.  Each  is  complete  in 
itself;  but  the  subjects  were  chosen  so  as  to 
work  together  into  a  series  of  typical  pictures 
of  the  life,  the  teaching,  and  the  development 
of  the  early  Church. 

The  length  of  treatment  of  these  subjects 
was  formerly  determined  by  the  exigencies  of 
space  in  a  periodical.  In  the  present  book  the 
whole  series  is  treated  on  a  uniform  scale,  ac- 
cording to  comparative  importance  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church.  The  growth  of  the 
Church  was  determined  by  progressive  revela- 
tion to  the  earliest  Christians  through  the 
indwelling  Spirit,  and  by  clearer  comprehen- 
sion on  their  part  of  the  Divine  purpose.  Per- 
ception of  this  principle  guided  Luke  in  select- 
ing and  grouping  the  facts  which  he  records. 
He  knew  much  that  he  did  not  incorporate  in 
his  history.     He  gave  space  in  his  pages  to 


vi  Preface 

events  and  persons  according  as  they  influ- 
enced the  growth  of  the  Church;  and  the 
present  writer  tries  simply  to  foUow  the  scale 
set  by  Luke.  Hence  the  almost  complete  omis- 
sion of  John  the  Apostle,  whose  activity,  pow- 
erful as  it  was,  lies  in  the  end  of  the  first  cen- 
tury and  therefore  falls  outside  the  limits  of 
Luke's  history. 

The  difference  in  relative  scale  between  the 
original  form  of  these  studies  and  the  present 
publication  may  be  seen  especially  in  the  case 
of  Stephen,  to  whom  two  Sections  are  now 
assigned.  There  was  lacking  also  a  connected 
sketch  of  the  activity  of  Paul,  and  this  has 
been  added  as  the  concluding  Section. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  reader  to  remember 
that  "Asia"  in  Luke  denotes,  not  the  vast  con- 
tinent of  Asia,  but  the  Roman  province,  a  part 
of  Asia  Minor,  lying  between  Galatia  and  the 
^gean  Sea.  So  it  is  used  in  the  following 
pages.  So  also  *'GaIatia"  and  "Macedonia" 
in  these  pages  always  denote  the  Roman  prov- 
inces, not  the  countries  or  kingdoms  which 
bore  those  names.  Luke  avoids  the  term 
"Galatia"  on  account  of  the  ambiguity ;  but  the 
Roman  Paul  uses  the  Roman  term,  and  the 


Preface  vii 

Church  from  his  time  onwards  made  a  prac- 
tice of  accepting  the  pohtical  facts  and  divi- 
sions of  the  Empire. 

W.  M.  Ramsay. 

University  of  Aberdeen^ 
17  August,  igio. 


CONTENTS 


Page 
Introduction i 

I 
The  Ascension 5 

II 
The  Day  of  Vision  and  Power lo 

III 
The  Birth  of  the  Church i8 

The  Power  of  Faith 24  -^ 

V 
The  Source  of  Power 30 

VI 
Thou  Shalt  Not  Wrong  God 36 

VII 
The  Test  of  Truth 44 

VIII 
Good  Order  Makes  for  Activity  in  the  Church  .   .     51 

IX 
The  Death  of  Stephen  the  Victory  of  the  Church  .     57 

X 

True  and  False  Belief 66 

XI 

The  Prophet  in  the  Wilderness 76 

XII 

The  Work  and  Power  of  Peter 84 

ix 


X  Contents 

Page 
XIII 

The  Cause  and  Manner  of  the  Growth  of   the 

Church pi 

XIV 
The  Universal  Gospel 98 

XV 
A  Messenger  of  the  Lord 105 

XVI 
The  Conversion  of  Paul 113 

XVII 
Origin  of  the  Greek  Church 121 

XVIII 
The  Approach  to  the  Gentiles 129 

XIX 
Paul  Turns  to  the  Gentiles 138 

XX 

The  Churches  of  Galatia 146 

XXI 

The  Union  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  the  Church  .   .    154 

XXII 
--^AiTH  AND  Works 162 

XXIII 
Word  and  Act 169 

XXIV 
'The  Nature  and  Power  of  Faith 175 

XXV 
Christianity    Giving    Vitality    to    the    Ancient 

Civilization 182 

XXVI 
The  Motive  Power  of  Life 190 


Contents  xi 

Page 
XXVII 

The  Entrance  of  the  Gospel  into  Europe 197 

XXVIII 
The  First  Christian  Church  in  Europe 206 

XXIX 
The  Progress  Through  Macedonia 215 

XXX 
Paul  at  Athens 222 

XXXI 
The  Charter  of  Christian  Freedom  in  the  Roman 

Empire 230 

XXXII 
Advice  to  a  Newly  Formed  Church 240 

XXXIII 
The  Imperial  Aims  of  Paul 247 

XXXIV 
Paul's  Victory  Over  the  Mob  in  Ephesus 255 

XXXV 
A  Hymn  of  Love  the  Divine 263 

XXXVI 
Paul's  Farewell  to  the  Hellenic  Churches  ....    270 

XXXVII 
The  Prophets  Who  Stopped  Paul 278 

XXXVIII 
The  Church  and  its  Enemies  in  the  Pagan  World  .    286 

XXXIX 
Freedom  in  Everyday  Life 293 

XL 

Self-Denial  the  Proof  of  Love 301 


xii  Contents 

Page 
XLI 

The  Beginning  of  the  Crisis 310 

XLII 
The  Real  Issue  between  Paul  and  the  Jews  ....    319 

XLIII 
Progress  of  Paul's  Case  in  Palestine 327 

XLIV 
Paul's  Appeal  to  Caesar 335 

XLV 
Paul  Takes  Command  When  Danger  Threatens  .   .   344 

XLVI 
Paul  the  Saviour  of  His  Companions 351 

XLVII 
A  Last  Appeal  to  the  Jews 358 

XLVIII 
Weakness  Made  Strong  :  The  Autobiography  of  a 

Missionary 365 

XLIX 
The  Law  of  Spiritual  Compensation 372 

L 
Paul's  Last  Will  and  Testament 379 

LI 
The  Epitaph  of  Paul 386 

LII 
Review  of  the  Influence  of  Local  Circumstances 

on  the  Life  of  Paul 393 


INTRODUCTION 

LUKE  AND  HIS  MESSAGE 

Any  reasonable  discussion  of  the  book  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  must  rest  on  a  definite 
opinion  as  to  the  evidence  on  which  the  narra- 
tive depends.  Luke  (as  he  tells  us  in  his  Gos- 
pel, chap.  I  :  if.)  had  many  authorities.  He 
foUov^s  the  practise  observed  by  writers  of  his 
age,  and  states  simply  the  conclusions  to  which 
his  consideration  of  his  authorities  had  led 
him,  without  formally  naming  the  source  of 
his  knowledge.  But  careful  reading  of  his 
very  careful  narrative  suggests  in  many  cases 
what  his  authority  was.  The  following  pages 
are  written  on  the  view  that  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  the  Acts  Luke's  chief  authority  was 
the  belief  and  the  accounts  current  in  Christian 
circles,  as  he  heard  them  in  Jerusalem  and 
Csesarea  when  he  was  there  with  Paul  for  more 
than  two  years,  a.d.  57-59.  Taking  a.d.  29  as 
the  date  of  the  Crucifixion,  we  find  that  this 
part  of  the  narrative  rests  on  evidence  which 

I 


2        Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

was  current  within  thirty  years  of  the  actual 
events  amid  a  society  consisting  largely  of  eye- 
witnesses or  the  children  of  eye-witnesses. 

We  can  safely  assume  that  Luke  had  been 
in  communication  with  many  Christians  in 
both  cities,  that  he  had  compared  their  ac- 
counts in  a  natural  and  unconscious  way,  and 
that  these  chapters  present  the  sum  of  what  he 
believed  on  this  evidence.  We  cannot  assume 
that,  when  he  was  in  Palestine,  he  was  in- 
tending to  write  a  history  and  was  consciously 
or  critically  comparing  accounts ;  and  above  all 
we  must  not  assume  that  his  standard  of  judg- 
ing was  the  same  as  ours.  Though  above  the 
ordinary  level  of  education  and  ability,  he 
judged  as  a  man  of  that  age,  a  converted  pagan, 
would  judge.  He  states  quite  plainly  that  he 
wrote  his  history  because  he  had  enjoyed  ac- 
cess to  the  best  sources  of  information,  and 
not  that  he  had  sought  out  information  be- 
cause he  wished  to  write  a  history.  This 
may  be  regarded  as  an  additional  proof  of  the 
unbiassed  character  of  his  outlook,  and  of  the 
unconscious  and  therefore  perfectly  honest  way 
in  which  the  narrative  gradually  took  form  in 
his  mind.     But  at  the  same  time  it  suggests 


Luke  and  His  Message  3 

that  the  general  and  spiritual  truth  would  im- 
press his  mind  more  deeply  than  the  details. 

The  early  history  of  the  Christian  Church  is 
narrated  by  Luke  as  ''miraculous" ;  that  is,  as 
resulting    from    the    direct    interposition    of 
Divine  power  on  certain  occasions.     I  accept 
this  character,   and  try  to  preserve   it  in  its 
proper  proportions ;  but  it  would  be  a  mistake 
to  exaggerate  it,  and  to  have  recourse  to  mar- 
vel where  no  marvel  is  apparent.     It  is  not 
necessary  to  infer  that  every  mention  of  an 
"angel,"  that  is,  a  messenger  of  God,  implies 
supernatural  agency.     Any  being  or  power  or 
person  that  served  as  an  instrument  to  bring 
the  Divine  Will  to  consummation  might  be, 
and    commonly    was,     regarded    in    Semitic 
thought  as  a  "messenger  of  God."     But  an 
element,  which  many  persons  in  modern  times 
stigmatize  as  "miraculous"  and  therefore  in- 
credible,  is  mingled  inextricably  with  Luke's 
narrative,  even  in  those  parts  where  he  was 
himself  an  eye-witness,  and  with  every  book 
in  the  New  Testament.     One  cannot  eliminate 
those  details  which  seem  marvelous,  and  re- 
gard the  rest  as  true.     The  New  Testament 
books  stand  as  a  whole,  and  must  be  accepted 


4        Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

with  this  miraculous  element,  or  rejected. 
Reason  and  evidence  guarantee  them.  Much 
that  superficial  thinkers  among  us  regard  as 
incredible  is  simply  unfamiliar.  Much  that 
would  have  been  ridiculed  as  incredible  and 
absurd  thirty  years  ago  has  now  become 
familiar  and  accepted  in  modern  science.  It  is 
an  irrational  prejudice  to  suppose  that  a  thing 
is  untrue  because  unfamiliar.  For  the  word 
"miraculous"  we  may  substitute  ''superhuman/* 
and  we  should  recognize  (as  Luke  recognized) 
that  the  relation  between  man  and  God  neces- 
sarily moves  on  a  plane  that  is  superhuman. 

There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  was  written  as  a  separate  work 
under  that  name.  It  was  composed  by  the 
author  as  the  Second  Book  of  his  history ;  and 
the  reader  will  best  understand  it,  if  he  studies 
it  in  this  way.  It  was  probably  at  some  time 
in  the  second  century  that  the  Second  Book  was 
separated  from  the  First ;  and  while  the  First 
was  placed  as  one  of  the  Gospels,  the  Second, 
standing  alone,  required  a  name;  and  the  title, 
"Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  was  invented  for  it. 
Yet  Its  opening  words  show  clearly  that  it  is 
the  second  part  of  a  single  history. 


THE  ASCENSION 
Ac^s  I  :  I- 1 4 

The  Acts,  the  second  book  of  Luke's  history, 
opens  with  a  brief  summary  of  the  subject  con- 
tained in  his  first  book,  and  then  gives  a  fuller 
statement  of  its  final  episode,  the  Ascension. 
This  episode  must  be  regarded  as  the  climax 
and  the  necessary  conclusion  of  the  Saviour's 
life,  as  Luke  sets  it  before  us  and  as  it  must  be 
frankly  accepted  or  rejected.  The  central  idea 
of  the  Christian  religion,  the  idea  which  can- 
not be  doubted  or  minimized  without  sacrific- 
ing the  essential  truth  of  Christianity,  is  that 
God,  who  had  always  through  His  messengers 
and  prophets  communicated  His  word  to  man, 
at  last,  as  the  climax  of  His  grace,  sent  His 
only  Son  into  the  world.  The  Divine  Nature, 
which  is  omnipresent  and  eternal,  free  from 
the  human  limitations  of  space  and  time,  ma- 
terialized itself  in  human  form  upon  the  earth, 
voluntarily  subjecting  itself  to  those  limitations 

5 


6        Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

and  yet  continuing  to  be  Divine.  "The  Word 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us."  In  so 
far  as  it  was  human,  this  expression  of  the 
Divine  Nature  in  the  world  must  have  a  begin- 
ning, a  history  for  a  term  of  years,  and  an  end, 
i.e.,  a  birth,  life,  and  death.  Yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  as  being  Divine,  it  was  pre-existent  and 
deathless.  The  Word  was  in  the  beginning, 
and  the  Word  was  God.  Birth  and  death  have 
no  bearing  on  the  eternal  Divine  Nature.  Thus 
the  Divine  Nature  makes  itself  in  appearance 
to  us  double,  and  this  double  nature  is  called 
by  the  terms  Father  and  Son,  which  must  of 
course  be  regarded  as  symbolical  names,  at- 
tempting to  make  the  Divine  mystery  intelli- 
gible to  the  human  mind  with  its  necessarily 
limited  powers  of  understanding. 

It  was  therefore  an  essential  part  of  the 
Divine  purpose,  that  those  who  had  known  the 
Divine  Word  in  its  human  expression  as  the 
man  Jesus,  should  become  aware  that  death 
had  no  real  power  over  him.  This  result  was 
accomplished  by  various  events  after  such 
fashion  that  a  sufficient  number  of  persons 
were  firmly  convinced  of  the  truth,  and  con- 
stituted a  body  of  witnesses  whose  evidence 


The  Ascension  7 

might  convince  the  world  and  give  effect  to 
the  Divine  v^ill. 

After  this  conviction  w^as  produced,  we 
come  to  the  final  stage,  the  apparent  departure 
of  the  embodied  Divine  Nature,  the  man  Jesus, 
from  the  world.  The  earthly  period  had  ful- 
filled its  purpose  and  reached  its  climax.  This 
is  the  Ascension.  This  term,  like  many  of  the 
other  words  which  must  be  employed  by  man 
in  discussing  the  subject,  is  an  attempt  to  ex- 
press Divine  truth — which  as  Divine  is  not 
subject  to  worldly  conditions — in  the  language 
of  human  imperfection.  The  Divine  Nature 
is  omnipresent.  It  does  not  lie  more  in  one 
direction  from  us  than  in  another ;  it  is  neither 
above  nor  below :  it  is  everywhere.  To  say 
that  Jesus  went  up  into  heaven  is  a  merely  sym- 
bolic expression ;  it  has  not  a  local  significance ; 
it  is  an  emblematic  statement  of  the  truth.  The 
truth  which  has  to  be  conceived  in  the  mind 
is  that,  at  the  due  stage  and  the  proper  moment, 
Jesus  ceased  to  be  apparent  to  human  senses 
in  the  world,  and  is  God  with  God. 

In  Acts  I  :  1-14  Luke  assumes  that  his  read- 
ers know  the  briefer  account  of  the  Ascension 
already  given  by  him  in  his  Gospel  (24  :  44- 


8        Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

51).  He  does  not  in  Acts  mention  that  the 
event  occurred  on  the  Mount  of  Ohves.  That 
was  known,  and  is  here  presumed  in  verse  12. 
That  there  are  slight  apparent  differences  in 
details  between  the  two  accounts  will  trouble 
no  one  who  thinks  in  the  same  fashion  as  Luke 
and  the  men  of  his  age  thought.  Luke  puts  the 
accounts  side  by  side;  the  spiritual  truth  was 
the  one  important  thing;  differences  of  detail 
were  unreal.  Similarly  he  describes  Paul's 
conversion  three  times,  always  with  slight  dif- 
ferences in  details.  Truths  transcendental  and 
Divine  had  to  be  expressed  in  the  insufficient 
language  of  mankind,  and  made  intelligible  to 
men  of  that  time.  It  is  part  of  Luke's  inten- 
tion to  leave  the  accompaniments  vague,  shad- 
owy and  uncertain,  in  order  to  concentrate 
attention  on  what  was  real,  spiritual  and  cer- 
tain. 

But  why  were  two  accounts  of  the  Ascension 
given  in  two  books  of  the  same  historical  work 
by  one  author?  The  Ascension  is  not  merely 
the  suitable  end  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  also  the 
beginning  of  the  history  of  Christianity  as  set 
forth  in  the  Acts.  The  work  of  men  was  now 
to  begin,  where  the  work  of  the  Son  of  God 


The  Ascension  9 

on  earth  ended.  The  very  first  episode  in  this 
new  stage  of  the  history  is  the  demonstration 
that  this  Ascension,  this  departure  of  the 
Divine  incarnate  Word,  is  only  apparent,  not 
permanent.  Jesus  leaves  the  world  with  the 
promise  to  return.  The  Divine  Nature  never 
leaves  man  alone  to  himself.  It  is  always  with 
him.  That  this  is  so,  and  how  the  disciples 
learned  in  actual  experience  that  it  is  so,  is  the 
next  episode  in  Acts,  and  the  next  step  in  the 
education  of  the  disciples  for  the  work  which 
they  had  to  perform  in  the  world. 


II 

THE  DAY  OF  VISION  AND  POWER 
Acts  2  :  1-2 1 

We  have  realized  why  it  was  that  the  Son  of 
God  must  bring  His  work  in  this  world  to  an 
end,  and  must  depart  when  His  work  on  earth 
had  been  completed.  This  departure,  however, 
is,  in  a  sense,  only  apparent  and  not  real.  It 
was  the  end  of  the  period  during  which  the 
Divine  Nature,  as  the  Word  become  flesh, 
subjected  itself  to  the  human  limitations  of 
space  and  time.  But  the  Divine  Nature  in  it- 
self is  never  absent  from  the  world  or  re- 
moved from  it ;  it  is  always  everywhere.  Jesus 
himself  in  His  life  on  earth  had  assured  the 
disciples  that  He  was  with  them  always,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.  He  guaranteed  to 
them  "the  promise  of  My  Father,"  the  gift  of 
power,  the  presence  of  the  Spirit.  The  other 
Gospels  mention  this  guarantee  and  assurance 
only  as  the  brief  final  word  of  His  life  on 
earth;  but  John  corrects  this  impression,  and 

lO 


The  Day  of  Vision  and  Power       1 1 

describes  this  promise  and  guarantee  at  length 
as  an  important  part  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
on  the  night  before  His  trial. 

At  the  moment  this  teaching  escaped  the  dis- 
ciples. Like  Jesus'  earlier  references  to  His 
coming  death,  they  failed  to  comprehend  it. 
Now  the  time  had  come  when  their  minds  were 
to  be  opened,  and  they  should  understand. 
They  had  been  plunged  into  depression  and 
despair  by  the  death  of  the  Saviour;  and  their 
hopes  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  were  crushed. 
The  conviction  that  he  was  not  dead,  as  it 
grew  into  abiding  certainty,  rekindled  the 
hope,  but  produced  no  understanding ;  and  they 
still  so  utterly  misconceived  the  Kingdom  of 
God  as  to  ask,  **Lord,  dost  Thou  at  this  time 
restore  the  Kingdom  to  Israel  ?"  Their  awak- 
ening to  understand  the  character  of  Jesus, 
His  mission  and  His  Kingdom,  is  described  in 
the  second  chapter  of  the  Acts.  Suddenly  they 
saw  and  knew,  and  the  knowledge  was  the 
presence  and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  words  in  which  Peter  addressed  the 
assembly  are  the  best  account  of  the  marvellous 
experience.  Such  words,  if  remembered  at  all, 
would  be  better  remembered  than  the  accom- 


1 2      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

panying  circumstances  (which  are  Hable  to  be 
modified  by  popular  behef )  ;  and  they  have  a 
simpHcity,  directness,  and  impressiveness  that 
compels  and  ensures  remembrance.  The  quo- 
tation from  Joel  could  not  be  forgotten;  it 
struck  the  key-note  of  the  incident,  and  gave 
the  tone  which  ruled  in  the  development  of 
the  young  Church.  The  speech  made  history 
and  was  remembered  in  history,  not  indeed 
verbatim,  but  in  outline  and  in  spirit.  This 
brief  outline  of  an  epoch-making  address,  de- 
livered on  a  memorable  occasion,  stands  in 
history  as  the  first  utterance  of  the  new 
Church;  and  as  such  is  a  document  of  the 
highest  interest.  We  confine  our  attention  at 
present  to  the  opening  part  of  this  speech. 

What  Peter  lays  stress  upon  is  the  gift  of 
prophecy  which  had  been  suddenly  bestowed, 
i.e.,  the  gift  of  insight  into  the  development  of 
history,  into  the  Divine,  eternal  principles  that 
control  the  movement  of  events.  The  disciples 
perceived  now  the  meaning  and  purpose  em- 
bodied in  the  life  and  death  of  the  Saviour,  to 
which  they  had  as  yet  been  blind.  Jesus  had 
hitherto  been  above  and  beyond  them,  a  figure 
whom  they  revered  and  after  a  dim  fashion 


The  Day  of  Vision  and  Power        1 3 

believed  in,  but  whose  teaching  and  work  lay 
outside  the  range  of  their  minds.  Now  they 
were  inspired  with  His  spirit;  each  of  them 
realized  that  Jesus  was  for  himself  individually 
the  Saviour;  and  the  knowledge  was  the 
Spirit  and  the  power  of  God.  This  inspiration 
was  universal,  without  distinction  of  sex  or 
rank.  Slavemen  and  slavewomen,  young  and 
old,  sons  and  daughters,  all  shared  alike  in  it. 
It  is  the  same  principle  that  Paul  states :  "There 
can  be  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  can  be 
neither  bond  nor  free,  there  can  be  no  male  and 
female ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Luke,  who  more  than  any  other  writer  in  the 
New  Testament  notices  the  part  played  by 
women,  does  not  allude  to  their  presence  here 
(unless  that  is  implied  in  the  first  verse).  The 
inner  meaning  of  universal  inspiration  and 
equality  without  sex  distinction,  which  Peter 
perceived  in  the  scene,  was  not  yet  fully  realized 
in  the  Christian  society  as  it  actually  was.  The 
Church  was  not  then,  and  could  not  for  many 
centuries  become,  fully  dominant  within  its 
own  house.  Underneath  the  existing  form 
Peter  saw  what  it  should  be  and  what  it  would 
hereafter  be.     So  did  Paul  in  the  words  which 


14     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

we  have  quoted;  yet  while  Paul  foresaw  the 
absolute  equality  that  should  rule  in  the  per- 
fect Church,  he  saw  also  the  practical  facts  of 
the  moment,  and  he  declared  that,  in  the  ex- 
isting state  of  society  inside  and  outside  of  the 
Church,  it  was  not  right  that  women  should 
speak  in  the  public  assembly.  We  must  not, 
therefore,  infer  from  Peter's  insight  into  the 
ideal  future  that  the  actual  Church  tried  to 
reach  the  ideal  at  the  moment,  or  that  Peter 
thought  it  should  make  the  attempt.  There  is 
always  in  this  world  a  great  gap  between  the 
perfect  ideal  and  the  possible  actuality. 

Such  is  the  inner  spirit  of  the  event.  What 
were  the  outward  features  and  facts  as  they 
were  evident  to  the  disciples  and  as  they  ap- 
peared to  spectators?  Two  general  principles 
may  be  laid  down  in  interpreting  such  a  situ- 
ation, (i)  So  mighty  a  change  in  the  mind 
and  powers  of  individuals  does  not  occur  with- 
out some  remarkable  external  effects.  But  (2) 
the  very  nature  of  these  effects  would  prevent 
their  making  a  clear  and  uniform  impression  on 
those  concerned.  Had  the  men  who  were  pres- 
ent recorded  separately  on  that  same  day  their 
impressions   of  the  physical   features  of  the 


The  Day  of  Vision  and  Power       15 

scene,    they    would    certainly    have    differed 
widely. 

We  have  before  us  two  accounts  of  the 
scene,  that  stated  by  Peter  at  the  moment  in 
his  speech,  and  that  of  Luke  derived  from  the 
general  belief  prevalent  in  the  Church  at  Jeru- 
salem nearly  thirty  years  after  the  event.  They 
differ  notably.  Peter  brushes  aside  the  ex- 
ternal features  as  unimportant,  fastens  on  the 
inner  meaning,  and  dwells  on  this  alone.  Yet 
he  shows  unmistakably  that  he  was  aware  of 
the  strange  external  features  which  Luke  in 
his  narrative  dwells  upon.  The  spectators  saw 
these  alone;  they  could  not  look  beneath  the 
surface  to  the  soul:  they  derided  the  strange 
appearance  of  the  scene.  Peter  acknowledges 
those  features  in  a  word,  and  passes  from 
them:  "These  persons  are  not  drunken,  as  ye 
suppose;  but  this  is  what  Joel  has  foreseen  and 
described." 

The  Divine  influence  affects  different  human 
beings  in  different  ways.  To  some  it  was  at 
that  moment  overpowering  and  confusing.  To 
Peter  it  was  on  the  instant  illuminative  and 
strengthening,  as  it  soon  became  to  all.  Hith- 
erto he  had  been  a  listener  and  an  observer, 


1 6      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

making  sometimes  a  short  statement,  and  that 
not  always  a  right  or  a  wise  one.  Now  he  could 
preach  an  extempore  discourse,  full  of  insight 
and  power. 

Some  or  many  of  the  others  could  only 
"speak  with  tongues."  In  this  place  we  can- 
not go  into  the  precise  meaning  of  this  much- 
discussed  expression.  It  is  sufficient  to  note: 
That  (i)  the  gift  of  tongues  was  recognized 
generally  in  the  early  Church  as  one  of  the 
forms  in  wdiich  the  Divine  Spirit  manifested 
itself  to  give  power  to  the  minds  of  men. 

(2)  The  Apostle  Paul  does  not  rank  it  very 
high  among  these  forms,  but  says  that  it  is 
more  advantageous  for  the  individual  who  re- 
ceived the  gift  than  for  the  Church  in  which 
he  used  it. 

(3)  Paul  regarded  the  utterances  of  this 
gift  as  obscure,  needing  interpretation,  *'for 
no  man  understandeth,"  and  as  spoken  ''not 
unto  men,  but  unto  God."  Hence,  while  the 
devout  interpreted  the  words  spoken  with 
tongues  on  this  occasion  each  in  his  native  lan- 
guage, others  regarded  them  as  the  babbling 
of  men  filled  with  new  wine.  Peter  rightly 
disregarded  these  external   signs,  visible  and 


The  Day  of  Vision  and  Power        1 7 

audible,  and  went  direct  to  the  spiritual  mean- 
ing that  lay  beneath  them.  Those  accompani- 
ments are  interesting  in  themselves,  and  are  in 
some  ways  an  instructive  study;  but  here, 
where  attention  has  to  be  directed  only  to  what 
is  most  important,  they  must  be  passed  in 
silence. 

John  tells  that  Jesus  had  foretold  this  gift 
of  the  Spirit.  ''I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he 
shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  he  may 
be  with  you  for  ever,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth." 
(14  :  16  f.)  Such  was  the  spiritual  truth  of 
this  scene.  Its  external  features  are  described 
by  Luke:  "There  appeared  tongues  as  of  fire, 
distributing  themselves  among  them;  and  it 
sat  upon  each  one  of  them."  But  he  does  not 
omit  the  inner  truth :  "They  were  all  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit." 


Ill 

THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  CHURCH 
Acts  2  :  22-47 

The  rest  of  Peter's  speech  has  an  imperish- 
able interest,  for  it  is  the  first  statement  of  the 
Gospel  as  understood  by  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians in  Jerusalem  when  they  were  entering  on 
the  work,  with  which  they  had  been  charged,  of 
conveying  the  Divine  message  to  the  world. 
Luke  fully  appreciated  its  historic  importance; 
and  the  right  understanding  of  it  is  the  key  to 
the  whole  plan  of  his  history.  Luke  thought 
that  Peter  as  yet  did  not  comprehend  the  full 
import  of  the  work  with  which  the  Church  was 
charged.  New  situations  would  arise,  and 
new  ideas  would  be  forced  on  him.  This 
speech  states  the  platform  upon  which  he  and 
the  Church  started. 

After  the  appeal,  "Ye  men  of  Israel,  hear 

these  words,"  the  key-note  is  struck  at  once, 

"Jesus  the  Nazarene."     He  is  called  by  the 

designation  which  was  best  known  to  the  audi- 

i8 


The  Birth  of  the  Chtirch  19 

ence,  and  by  which  they  would  most  surely 
identify  the  person  intended.  It  was  the  desig- 
nation placed  on  the  cross.  It  was  the  designa- 
tion used  by  the  accusers  of  Stephen,  and  by 
Paul  in  addressing  Agrippa.  It  was  the  desig- 
nation by  which  Jesus  defined  himself  to  Paul, 
when  he  appeared  to  him  nigh  unto  Damascus ; 
in  short,  the  designation  by  which  his  enemies 
described  him,  and  Peter  is  addressing  enemies. 
In  the  speech  five  facts  are  stated  emphati- 
cally. ( I )  The  Divine  power  had  proved 
itself  in  and  through  the  person  of  Jesus  by 
"mighty  works  and  wonders  and  signs."  This 
is  taken  as  an  acknowledged  fact;  and,  since 
Peter's  appeal  proved  successful,  we  must  un- 
derstand that  his  hearers,  although  opponents, 
admitted  the  fact. 

(2)  The  Jews  crucified  him  through  the 
agency  of  men  outside  the  law,  that  is,  of  Ro- 
mans. 

(3)  This  took  place  as  part  of  the  plan 
formed  beforehand  with  full  knowledge  by 
God. 

(4)  Death  had  no  power  over  Jesus. 

(5)  David  had  foretold  that  he  would  be 
raised  up. 


20      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

This  address  shows  what  a  revolution  had 
taken  place  in  the  disciples'  views.  A  few  days 
ago  they  had  been  looking  for  the  immediate 
restoration  of  the  kingdom  to  Israel.  Now 
they  regarded  the  crucifixion  and  its  shame  as 
the  central  idea  in  the  salvation  planned  by 
God  and  prophesied  by  David.  They  now 
understood  the  Divine  purpose. 

The  address  was  admirably  suited  to  the 
audience  of  Jews,  to  whom  the  outlook  of  the 
Church  was  still  confined.  Even  the  elaborate 
argument  under  the  fifth  heading,  which  to  us 
may  seem  far-fetched  and  inconclusive,  was 
to  the  Jews  probably  the  most  effective  of  all. 
Its  meaning  may  be  thus  expressed :  David 
says,  'T  shall  not  be  subject  to  death" ;  but 
David  died,  and  we  know  his  tomb,  therefore 
he  was  not  speaking  of  his  individual  self, 
but  of  his  promised  offspring,  the  Messiah; 
and  as  was  the  Jewish  custom,  he  identifies  his 
remote  descendant  with  himself.  Now  Jesus, 
his  descendant,  was  not  subject  to  death,  but, 
as  you  know.  He  rose.  Therefore  Jesus  is  the 
Messiah.  This  reasoning  was  conclusive  to 
the  people  in  Jerusalem  who  knew  the  recent 
facts,  and  who  admitted  the  argument   from 


The  Birth  of  the  Church  2 1 

prophecy.  To  a  wider  audience  of  strangers 
and  pagans  it  would  not  have  appealed.  We 
are  here  within  the  horizon  of  Judaism  and 
Jerusalem,  and,  so  to  say,  under  the  shadow  of 
the  cross.  The  facts  are  assumed  and  ad- 
mitted by  speaker  and  hearers. 

The  address  pierced  the  hearers'  hearts,  and 
they  asked,  "What  shall  we  do?"  The  steps 
they  should  take  were  marked  out  by  Peter, 
(i)  Repentance:  the  same  message  as  that  of 
John  the  Baptist.  (2)  Baptism  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  that  is,  with  acknowledgment 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ.  (3)  Forgiveness  of 
sins  thereby  produced.  (4)  Divine  inspira- 
tion, which  follows,  raising  them  to  the  level 
of  the  Church  and  the  disciples. 

There  was,  evidently,  in  the  mind  of  Peter 
and  the  disciples  a  conception  of  the  little 
Church  of  Jerusalem  gradually  widening  itself 
to  include  the  Jewish  people;  this  Jewish 
Church  has  its  religious  centre  in  the  temple, 
but  adds  to  the  duties  of  the  temple  the  religion 
of  the  home.  What,  then,  has  become  of  the 
command  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole 
world?  Peter  has  not  forgotten  this.  He 
alludes  to  it  when  he  says,   "To  you  is  the 


22      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

promise,  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that 
are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our 
God  shall  call."  Clearly,  Peter  understands 
that  those  who  are  afar  off — that  is,  the  Gen- 
tiles— are  to  be  brought  into  the  Jewish  fold; 
the  Jewish  nation  shall  be  widened  to  admit 
such  as  are  called,  who  are  willing  to  accept 
the  temple  as  the  national  sanctuary  and  con- 
form to  the  whole  Jewish  law.  The  atmos- 
phere of  the  passage  is  still  Jewish.  The  new 
Church  is  a  sect  of  the  Jews,  knit  together  in 
wonderful  unity  and  fellowship  by  the  rite  of 
the  breaking  of  bread,  and  prayers  in  the  house 
and  in  the  assembly,  but  accepting  the  entire 
Jewish  Law  and  ritual  with  those  Christian 
rites  superadded. 

The  ''breaking  of  bread,"  so  often  alluded  to 
by  Luke,  is  undoubtedly  an  act  of  religion.  It 
is  an  accompaniment  of  the  meal  in  the  house ; 
the  bread  was  broken  and  divided  to  all  as  a 
symbol  that  all  were  parts  of  one  whole,  one 
fellowship,  one  Church,  one  Master.  The 
common  meal  was  thus  a  bond  of  union  among 
the  brotherhood,  and  the  young  Church  aimed 
at  encouraging  this  union  in  every  way: 
amongst  others,  by  carrying  charity  to  such  a 


The  Birth  of  the  Church  23 

pitch  that  they  regarded  their  property  as  com- 
mon, and  people  used  to  sell  their  possessions 
and  divide  them  to  all  according  to  their  vary- 
ing needs.  But  no  rule  of  selling  and  dividing 
is  here  stated ;  in  the  exact  translation  a  habit 
arising  from  love  and  brotherly  kindness  is  im- 
plied, not  a  regulation  enforced  on  the  mem- 
bers. Where  property  has  all  ceased  to  exist, 
because  all  has  been  divided  up,  the  giving  of 
charity  ceases  to  be  possible.  Now  the  giving 
of  charity  according  to  one's  property  v^as  one 
of  the  most  marked  features  of  the  early 
Church.  Luke  is  here  describing  very  gener- 
ous charity,  but  not  a  rule  of  common 
property. 

In  this  way  the  infant  Church  went  on  in- 
creasing, and  in  the  last  verse  a  process  is 
summed  up  which  may  have  lasted  over  many 
months,  until  a  new  stage  in  the  development 
of  the  Church  began. 


IV 

THE  POWER  OF  FAITH 
Acts  s  '  1-26 

As  we  have  already  seen,  these  first  Chris- 
tians in  Jerusalem  maintained  the  Jewish  ritual, 
and  to  them,  as  to  the  other  Jews,  the  temple 
was  the  place  for  the  public  service  of  prayer. 
During  this  attendance  at  the  temple  occurred 
the  striking  incident  described  in  Chapter  III, 
the  healing  of  a  man,  lame  from  birth,  familiar 
to  all  visitors  at  the  temple  as  a  beggar,  whose 
station  was  by  the  Beautiful  Gate. 

Pity  for  human  suffering — physical  suffer- 
ing as  well  as  moral — was  a  marked  feature  of 
Jesus'  teaching;  and  probably  the  aspect  of  his 
work  which  most  powerfully  touched  the 
hearts  of  the  men  among  whom  he  moved,  was 
the  sympathy  which  he  showed  for  their  physi- 
cal suffering.  This  compassion  showed  itself 
especially  in  medical  attention  to  the  sick.  The 
universal  experience  of  missionaries  in  modern 
times  corroborates  this  observation ;  in  mission 
24 


The  Power  of  Faith  25 

work  no  avenue  leads  more  directly  to  the  pop- 
ular heart  than  the  relief  of  disease  and  physi- 
cal pain.  It  is  therefore  natural  that  an  inci- 
dent such  as  this  one  should  be  still  living  in 
the  memory  of  the  poor  Christians  of  Pales- 
tine when  Luke  was  there  in  a.  d.  57-59. 

The  incident  was  of  the  nature  of  a  faith- 
cure.  As  the  accepted  custom  among  ancient 
writers  prevented  Luke  from  stating  exactly 
the  evidence  on  which  he  relies,  we  cannot  treat 
the  cure  as  scientifically  attested,  nor  have  we 
the  means  of  judging  how  far  it  was  explicable 
as  an  ordinary  phenomenon  of  medical  prac- 
tise working  on  the  emotions  and  belief.  But 
the  story  is  so  life-like  and  so  circumstantial 
that  its  general  features  cannot  be  doubted  by 
an  unprejudiced  mind ;  and  the  important  con- 
sequences that  ensued  helped  to  preserve  it 
fresh  in  the  popular  memory,  and  obtained  for 
it  a  place  in  Luke's  brief  history,  where  only 
important  things  are  noticed. 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  the  faith  by 
which  the  cure  was  efifected  was  the  faith  of 
the  man  himself,  or  of  the  two  Apostles. 
Surely  there  should  be  no  doubt.  There  must 
have  been  faith  on  his  part,  for  without  that 


26      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

he  could  not  be  cured.  In  Luke  7  :  50  the  sin- 
ner was  saved  by  her  faith;  in  Luke  8  :  48 
the  sufferer  was  made  whole  by  her  faith.  But 
there  was  also  faith  on  the  part  of  Peter  and 
John.  Without  that  also  nothing  was  possible ; 
and  Peter  lays  special  stress  on  this  in  his  ad- 
dress to  the  multitude.  The  cure  had  been 
wrought,  not  by  the  power  of  the  Apostles,  but 
"in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Nazarene," 
that  is,  by  their  faith  in  Him.  Where  Jesus 
effected  a  cure,  faith  was  needed  only  on 
one  side.  Where  one  of  His  followers  effected 
a  cure,  faith  on  both  sides  was  needed.  Such 
were  the  normal  conditions,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing to  suggest  that  this  case  was  exceptional. 
It  lies  also  in  the  imperfect  nature  of  Orien- 
tal popular  tradition  as  historical  authority,  that 
we  get  from  Luke  a  very  imperfect  idea  of  the 
lapse  of  time.  It  is  not  made  clear  at  this  stage 
whether  weeks  or  months  or  years  had  passed 
since  Pentecost.  Luke  himself,  evidently,  had 
no  knowledge  on  this  point,  or  was  not  inter- 
ested in  it.  Time  was  of  small  importance  to 
him;  the  stages  in  the  development  of  the 
Church  filled  his  thought,  and  chronology 
passed    out    of    his    sight    and    mind — except 


The  Power  of  Faith  27 

that,  after  the  fashion  of  many  ancient  his- 
torians, he  at  intervals  gives  some  indica- 
tions of  time,  and  leaves  the  reader  to  distrib- 
ute the  intermediate  events  within  the  periods 
thus  marked  off.  Such  an  indication  occurs  in 
Chapter  12;  and  portioning  out  the  events  of 
Chapters  i  to  12  we  gather  that  the  cure  of 
the  lame  man  took  place  not  many  months 
after  the  first  Pentecost. 

Peter's  speech  on  this  occasion  marks  a  dis- 
tinct advance  in  thought  and  philosophic  power 
from  that  which  he  made  at  Pentecost.  There 
is  clearly  apparent  here  the  historian's  inten- 
tion to  indicate  by  means  of  these  speeches  the 
gradual  development  of  view  in  the  Church, 
whose  standard  is  that  of  its  leader,  Peter.  In 
the  former  speech  the  way  of  salvation  was 
described  as  consisting  of  three  steps:  repent- 
ance, baptism,  remission  of  sins;  but  the  con- 
nection between  these  steps,  the  moral  fact  in 
the  man  which  makes  these  three  steps  into  one 
process,  was  not  stated.  Now  the  nature  of 
this  process  is  better  understood  and  set  forth 
in  definite  words  by  Peter.  The  idea  of  Faith 
is  fundamental  in  this  address.  Through 
Faith  comes  healing. 


28      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

May  we  not  believe  that  this  advance  in 
Peter's  thought  took  place  through  the  enno- 
bling influence  of  the  remarkable  incident  that 
had  just  occurred?  The  consciousness  of  power 
brought  the  consciousness  of  knowledge:  the 
two  are  different  sides  of  one  mental  fact. 
The  intense  pity  and  desire  to  help  gave  Peter 
the  power.  As  soon  as  the  power  was  exerted, 
he  knew  how  it  acted,  and  on  the  instant  he 
said  to  the  spectators  that  this  was  not  done  by 
the  Apostles'  power  or  piety,  but  that  the  name 
of  Jesus  by  faith  in  His  name  had  effected  the 
cure.  Then  he  stated  again  the  lesson  as  to  the 
way  through  repentance  and  remission  of  sins, 
omitting  now  the  ceremony  of  baptism  as  ex- 
ternal and  less  important,  but  adding  the  inner 
and  vital  fact,  that  the  issue  for  the  converts 
will  be  seasons  of  refreshing — that  is,  revival 
— in  which  the  Divine  power  should  be  shown 
on  them  and  in  them. 

But  even  yet  Peter  has  not  lost  the  dream  or 
hope  of  a  restoration  of  the  Kingdom  in  Pales- 
tine; the  consummation  shall  be  the  sending  of 
the  Messiah  among  them.  This  Messiah,  how- 
ever, is  the  same  Jesus  whom  they  slew  and 
who  has  returned  to  heaven.    It  is  implied  that 


The  Power  of  Faith  29 

the  Kingdom  of  the  Messiah  shall  be  a  local 
one,  with  Jerusalem  and  the  temple  as  its  cen- 
tre. A  consciousness  of  the  widening  of  the 
Kingdom  appears  only  in  verse  26,  ''unto  you 
first," — that  is,  to  Jews  first  and  afterward  to 
all  men  is  the  Servant  of  God  sent.  The  con- 
ception of  the  Divine  plan  and  purpose  is  still 
imperfect  in  these  speeches ;  but  Peter  and  the 
Church  with  him  were  gradually  awakening  to 
fuller  consciousness. 

The  fixed  earnest  gaze  of  Peter  and  John  on 
the  lame  man,  and  of  the  wondering  crowd  on 
the  Apostles,  are  noteworthy  traits.  The  soul 
speaks  best  through  the  eyes;  and  this  earnest 
gaze  is  often  mentioned  in  Acts  as  indicative 
of  a  certain  lofty  excitation  of  the  whole  inner 
nature.  Wherever,  for  example,  it  is  men- 
tioned that  Paul  ''fixed  his  eyes"  on  some  one 
(as  on  Bar-Jesus),  this  power  of  the  mind  ex- 
pressed itself  through  the  eyes. 


V 

THE  SOURCE  OF  POWER 
Acts  4  :  i-ji 

While  Peter  and  John  were  addressing  the 
people,  the  Jewish  priests  and  rulers  arrested 
them,  and  on  the  morrow  arraigned  them  be- 
fore a  hastily  convened  council.  The  Roman 
masters  of  the  city  had  no  part  in  this  act. 
They  interfered  in  case  of  serious  disturbance, 
but  generally  left  to  the  Jewish  rulers  the  task 
of  preserving  order  in  the  precincts  of  the 
temple.  It  was  the  policy  of  the  high  priests  to 
prevent  riots,  which  might  attract  Roman  at- 
tention and  lead  to  the  curtailment  of  such 
powers  as  the  Romans  still  left  to  them. 

The  marvelously  vivid  picture  which  Luke 
gives  of  this  council  shows  the  rulers  as  at  first 
quite  ignorant  that  the  prisoners  had  been  con- 
nected with  Jesus.  Yesterday  they  had  ob- 
served the  signs  of  excitement  among  the  peo- 
ple, and  taken  immediate  steps  to  check  it.  The 
question  addressed  to  the  prisoners  reveals  the 
30 


The  Source  of  Power  3 1 

suspicion  that  the  remarkable  cure — an  undeni- 
able fact,  evident  in  the  patient  who  stood  be- 
fore the  court  as  a  witness — had  been  produced 
by   unholy   and   magical   arts.      If   this   were 
established,  the  case,  as  being  a  religious  one, 
fell  entirely  under  their  jurisdiction.      Peter 
took  the  lead  in  replying,  pointing  to  Jesus  as 
the  one  and  only  source  of  such  power  as  they 
had  exerted,  charging  their  judges  with  His 
murder,  and  drawing  the  inference  that  their 
malice  had  only  served  to  illuminate  His  glory. 
This  answer,  so  quiet,  so  restrained,  so  com- 
plete, was  conclusive.    There  was  nothing  more 
to  do.     The  intention  of  the>Jewish  adminis- 
tration— a  perfectly  right  and  wise  intention— 
to  nip  in  the  bud  a  dangerous  popular  move- 
ment,   which   might    lead   to   conspiracy,    dis- 
order,  rebellion  and  bloodshed,   was  brought 
to  naught  by  the  simple   fact  that  here  was 
neither   revolutionary   tendency   nor  trace   of 
conspiracy  nor  encouragement  to  rebellion,  but 
only  the  most  peaceable  and  orderly  benefi- 
cence.    They  could  not  venture  to  inflict  pun- 
ishment for  the  mere  cure  of  a  sick  man,  with- 
out putting  themselves  hopelessly  in  the  wrong 
and  arousing  public  excitement  and  indigna- 


32      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tion.  Nor  could  they  even  venture  to  take 
notice  of  the  historical  statement  and  the 
theory  of  prophetic  fulfilment  set  forth  by 
Peter.  It  was  safest  to  let  the  past  remain  un- 
disturbed. If  controversy  about  Jesus  began, 
feeling  might  be  roused,  the  disorder  v^hich 
they  dreaded  might  ensue,  and  the  blame 
v^ould  rest  with  themselves.  From  their  point 
of  view  the  less  said  about  the  Messiah  the  bet- 
ter. They  therefore  instructed  the  prisoners  to 
say  nothing  more  about  Jesus ;  and  even  when 
Peter  declared  that  "we  cannot  but  speak  the 
things  which  we  saw  and  heard,"  they  merely 
threatened  to  punish  the  two  prisoners  in  case 
of  disobedience,  and  let  them  go. 

The  priests  and  rulers  were  taken  aback  in 
this  inquiry,  when  they  perceived  that  Peter 
and  John  had  been  with  Jesus.  They  had  fan- 
cied that  with  the  death  of  the  leader  the  move- 
ment would  quiet  down,  and  his  followers, 
peasants  devoid  of  education,  would  be  power- 
less; and  so  it  had  seemed  for  a  time  to  be. 
Now  suddenly  it  was  made  clear  to  them  that 
those  followers  could  boldly  face  the  national 
authorities,  and  speak  with  ease  and  power; 
that   without   any   professional   training  they 


The  Source  of  Power  33 

could  reason  convincingly  on  points  of  the  reli- 
gious law.  It  is  to  this  new  power  that  Luke 
refers  when  he  describes  Peter  in  the  court  as 
"filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,"  possessed  and  in- 
spired with  the  Divine  power.  The  Jewish 
leaders  recognized  here,  and  we  must  recog- 
nize, that  there  was  no  other  explanation  of  the 
facts  except  the  influence  of  Jesus,  his  inspira- 
tion and  his  continued  presence  with  his  fol- 
lowers. What  an  education  those  poor  peas- 
ants and  fishermen  had  enjoyed  in  constant 
intercourse  with  Jesus  during  his  life,  and  in 
the  consciousness  which  they  now  had  that  he 
was  always  with  them,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world ! 

We  recognize  also  that  the  Divine  truth  al- 
ways works  in  calm  and  quiet  power;  it  is 
never  hysterical,  excited  or  violent.  What  dig- 
nity, what  self-restraint,  what  instinctive  per- 
ception how  far  to  go  and  where  to  stop,  do 
Peter  and  John  show  here!  Nothing  can  be 
added  and  nothing  taken  away,  without  impair- 
ing the  effect.  What  a  contrast  between  these 
men  and  those  other  Jews  who  had  on  other 
occasions  proclaimed  the  Messiah!  All  those 
others  had  been  true  patriots,  devoted,  unself- 


34     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ish,  ready  to  die  for  their  belief ;  but  they  were 
hysterical  and  violent,  and  their  action  could 
only  produce  rebellion  on  the  Jewish  side  and 
stern  repression  on  the  part  of  the  Romans. 
Their  enterprises  had  all  been  evanescent. 
This  new  movement  was  permanent,  because  it 
was  quiet,  orderly  and  peaceful.  Its  followers 
respected  their  neighbors  and  their  magistrates, 
because  they  respected  themselves.  This  is  the 
touchstone  to  distinguish  the  wrong  (even 
when  it  has  an  element  of  right  in  its  composi- 
tion) from  the  right  which  is  Divine. 

So  ended  the  first  collision  between  the 
young  Church  and  the  Jewish  authorities. 
The  result  was  to  strengthen  the  whole  congre- 
gation, to  fill  them  with  the  consciousness  of 
the  power  that  had  been  granted  them,  and  to 
give  them  confidence  for  the  future.  The  event 
lived  in  the  memory  of  the  Christians,  partly 
from  the  picturesque  and  impressive  nature  of 
the  facts,  partly  because  it  was  the  first  public 
exertion  of  their  common  power,  and  partly  be- 
cause it  inaugurated  the  long  series  of  contests 
between  the  Church  and  the  Jewish  rulers. 

We  can  gather  in  a  vague  way  some  idea 
here  of  the  lapse  of  time  since  the  Crucifixion. 


The  Source  of  Power  35 

A  certain  interval  separated  the  two  events,  for 
the  priests  and  rulers  had  no  longer  fresh  in 
their  minds  the  memory  of  Jesus;  and  it  was 
only  when  Peter  recalled  His  death  at  their 
hands  that  they  began  to  connect  the  two  Apos- 
tles with  that  Teacher  whom  they  had  slain. 
This  seems  to  require  that  a  good  many  months 
had  elapsed,  during  which  the  Church,  though 
making  steady  progress,  had  not  attracted  the 
notice  of  the  Jewish  administration,  but  had 
appeared  to  be  merely  one  of  those  associations 
which  from  time  to  time  arose  and  remained 
within  the  limits  of  the  Hebrew  religion.  The 
orderly  behavior  of  the  Christians,  and  their 
use  of  the  temple  as  their  centre,  tended  to  keep 
them  safe  and  obscure.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  not  allowable  to  suppose  that  a  very  long  in- 
terval had  passed  since  the  death  of  Jesus,  for 
a  Church  containing  so  many  thousands  even 
of  quiet,  peaceable  citizens  was  likely  to  be 
forced  into  prominence;  and  this  took  place 
through  the  incident  of  the  lame  man.  The 
Jewish  leaders  were  evidently  afraid  that  any 
talking  about  Jesus  might  rouse  the  populace, 
and  this  implies  that  the  memory  had  not  died 
away,  but  was  comparatively  fresh. 


VI 

THOU    SHALT    NOT    WRONG    GOD^ 

Ac/s  4  :  j2  to  J  :  ii 

At  this  point  Luke  again  reviews  the  char- 
acter of  the  early  Church.  We  may,  perhaps, 
infer  that  this  second  review  impHes  a  consid- 
erable lapse  of  time  since  the  first  review  (2  : 
44  f)  ;  but  it  must  always  be  remembered  that 
Luke  lays  little  stress  on  mere  considerations 
of  time.  He  counts  according  to  the  steps  in 
the  progress  of  the  Church,  and  the  review  is 
made  at  this  point  because  an  important  devel- 
opment now  occurred  in  Church  administra- 
tion. 

This  second  review  of  the  early  Christians  is 
similar  to  the  first,  but  adds  a  new  element. 
Strict  translation  of  the  Greek  words  is  here 
necessary;  and  loose  translation  has  sometimes 
produced  serious  misconception  of  the  mean- 
ing.    No  universal  selling  of  property  is  men- 

*The  title  is  an  early  Christian  formula,  used  upon 
old  Phrygian  gravestones. 

36 


Thou  Shalt  Not  Wrong  God        37 

tioned,  and  no  general  instructions  were  issued 
that  members  of  the  Church  ought  to  distrib- 
ute to  the  poor  all  that  they  possessed.  But 
many  of  the  owners  of  property  ("as  many  as 
were  possessors  of  lands  or  houses"),  of  their 
own  free  will,  from  love  of  the  brethren,  used 
from  time  to  time  to  sell  their  property  and 
bring  the  proceeds  to  the  Apostles.  They  ac- 
quired merit  and  honor  by  these  acts  of  self- 
sacrifice  ;  and  two  examples  are  given,  one  hon- 
est and  meritorious,  one  dishonest  and  dis- 
graceful. 

No  such  examples  would  be  needed,  and  no 
special  merit  would  be  acquired,  if  it  had  been 
a  principle  in  the  early  Church  to  renounce  all 
private  property  and  give  everything  to  the 
Church.  Peter  says  in  v.  4  that  the  selling  was 
voluntary,  and  the  money  received  from  the 
sale  was  the  property  of  the  possessor  to  em- 
ploy as  he  pleased.  Nor  is  it  implied  that  own- 
ers of  property  sold  all  and  reduced  themselves 
to  poverty.  On  the  contrary  it  is  stated  that 
none  were  in  want,  since  the  charity  of  the 
richer  Christians  provided  for  the  poorer.  A 
form  of  charity  which  swelled  the  number  of 
the  destitute,  by  producing  a  large  number  of 


38      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

voluntary  paupers,  would  be  inconsistent  with 
the  spirit  of  the  narrative.  Luke  believed  with 
all  his  heart  that  such  generous  charity  was 
right;  he  lays  strong  emphasis  on  the  frequency 
of  such  acts  of  sacrifice  in  the  early  Church, 
when  the  Spirit  was  moving  the  hearts  of  the 
brethren,  and  he  has  the  intention  of  stimulat- 
ing to  similar  action  the  Christians  of  his  own 
time.  But  his  emphasis  is  so  strong  as  to  have 
caused  misunderstanding  of  his  meaning,  as  if 
universal  sale  of  property  and  the  absolute  rule 
of  community  of  goods  were  carried  out  in 
the  early  Church. 

A  progress  in  method  is  here  described. 
Formerly,  when  the  rich  sold  their  property 
they  used  to  distribute  to  the  poor  them.selves 
(2  :  45).  Now,  as  numbers  had  increased  and 
it  was  more  difficult  to  know  the  needs  of  each, 
the  sellers  began  to  give  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  to  form  a  Church  fund,  which  was  regu- 
lated and  distributed  by  the  Apostles,  "as  any 
one  had  need."  Here  we  have  the  beginnings 
of  Church  organization.  As  soon  as  a  perma- 
nent fund  came  into  existence,  some  adminis- 
tration of  it  was  needed;  and  just  as  the  Apos- 
tles took  the  lead  in  teaching,  so  they,  as  the 


Thou  Shalt  Not  Wrong  God        39 

friends  of  the  Lord  and  leaders  of  the  breth- 
ren, were  trusted  to  manage  the  fund  and  dis- 
tribute the  charity.  The  development  of  organ- 
ization implies  increased  coherence  and  defi- 
niteness  in  the  Church.  It  was  no  longer  a 
mere  assembly  of  separate  individuals,  each 
acting  as  the  Spirit  moved  him;  it  was  now 
becoming  a  unified  organism  with  an  admin- 
istration. 

At  this  point,  also,  a  new  figure  is  introduced 
on  the  stage  of  early  Christian  history,  the  first 
who  is  named  outside  the  number  of  those  who 
had  known  the  Saviour  personally  (i  :  23), 
and  one  who  was  destined  to  play  a  conspicuous 
part  in  the  development  of  the  Church,  a  Levite 
from  Cyprus,  Joseph  Barnabas.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting fact  that  the  explanation  which  is  given 
of  his  surname  is  linguistically  not  correct;  but 
this  wrong  interpretation,  "the  son  of  exhorta- 
tion," was  a  popular  etymology,  which  Luke 
heard  current  among  the  people.  Popular  ety- 
mology is  commonly  unscientific. 

The  story  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  which 
follows,  is  one  of  the  most  impressive  in  this 
history.  It  bears  strongly  marked  on  it  the 
character  of  popular  belief  current  in  the  early 


40     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Church,  and  one  feels  no  doubt  that  Luke  heard 
it  in  Caesarea  or  Jerusalem  among  the  brethren 
in  A.D.  57-59.  The  members  of  the  young  con- 
gregation were  not  all  honest  and  true.  The 
vain  desire  to  gain  honor  and  praise  from  their 
associates  impelled  some  to  contribute  to  the 
fund;  but  this  lower  motive  could  not  make 
them  sincere  and  whole-hearted  in  their  con- 
duct. A  type  of  this  class  is  exposed  in  the 
married  pair,  who,  having  sold  a  piece  of  land, 
offered  part  of  the  price  to  the  Apostles.  The 
presentation  evidently  took  place  publicly  at  an 
assembly  of  the  congregation;  and  the  story 
is  told  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  how  the  awe- 
struck brethren  gradually  came  to  comprehend 
the  nature  of  the  facts  as  they  occurred.  The 
whole  circumstances  are  not  explained  at  the 
outset.  The  reader  learns  them  piece-meal,  as 
the  spectators  learned  them.  Such  an  account 
is  clearly  marked  as  resting  on  eye-witness ;  we 
have  a  real  occurrence  remembered  and  de- 
scribed as  it  happened.  The  Church  now  con- 
sisted of  thousands,  and  there  were  too  many 
members  for  each  to  know  the  other  personally. 
The  spectators  thought  at  first  that  the  action 
of  Ananias  was  as  honest  as  that  of  Barnabas; 


Thou  Shalt  Not  Wrong  God        41 

and  they  were  struck  with  panic  as  the  judg- 
ment fell  on  him  at  Peter's  denunciation. 

But  what  a  contrast  is  there  between  the 
power  which  Jesus  showed  to  draw  out  the 
best  in  the  nature  of  those  who  came  into  per- 
sonal relations  with  Him,  and  the  power  which 
in  the  presence  and  aspect  of  Peter  punished 
the  evil  as  by  a  stroke  of  lightning!  What  a 
contrast  between  the  unvarying  beneficence  of 
Christ's  action  towards  men  and  the  destroy- 
ing power  which  in  several  cases  goes  out  from 
the  Apostles !  Here  we  feel  ourselves  in  a  dif- 
ferent atmosphere  and  a  new  era;  the  age  of 
the  Gospels  is  ended;  the  age  of  punishments 
has  begun.  In  the  world  the  practical  fact  is 
that,  when  ordinary  government  fails  to  make 
its  subjects  act  rightly,  punishment  must  be  re- 
sorted to.  Jesus  did  not  need  to  apply  punish- 
ment to  men ;  but  no  very  long  time  had  elapsed 
after  He  left  the  Church  to  govern  itself,  when 
the  death-penalty  was  foretold  and  carried  out 
in  its  assembly.  Jesus  ruled  by  love ;  but  now, 
"great  fear  came  upon  the  whole  Church." 
Yet  with  some  people  "the  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
the  beginning  of  wisdom." 

In  the  memory  of  the  early  Christians  the 


42      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

incident  survived,  because  it  impressed  on  them 
the  punishing  authority  v^ith  w^hich  the  Apos- 
tles v^ere  invested  in  the  last  resort.  Peter  is 
not  said  to  have  himself  exercised  the  power 
and  inflicted  the  penalty:  he  merely  denounces 
the  crime  and  predicts  the  punishment.  But 
the  practical  effect  is  the  same :  to  foresee  and 
denounce  is  to  punish. 

The  early  tradition  laid  stress  chiefly  on  the 
moral,  and  it  is  characteristic  of  tradition  that 
features  not  essential  to  the  moral  are  omitted, 
and  the  circumstances  group  themselves  in  the 
popular  memory  in  such  a  w^ay  as  to  impart 
terrific  impressiveness  to  the  lesson.  Hence 
some  of  the  facts  mentioned  in  this  case  are 
rather  hazy  because  of  the  omission  of  others 
— in  marked  contrast  to  the  precise  details 
given  about  the  lame  man  in  Chapter  4,  his 
age,  his  situation,  etc. 

Ananias  is  not  described  as  a  foreign  Jev^, 
like  Barnabas,  but  v^e  cannot  think  that  he  lived 
and  owned  property  in  Jerusalem.  In  the  pub- 
licity of  life  in  those  regions,  the  price  of  a 
property  would  be  known  to  all,  even  to  many 
who  did  not  know  the  owner  personally.  Yet 
the  narrative  seems  to  suggest  that  Peter  be- 


Thou  Shalt  Not  Wrong  God        43 

came  aware  of  the  hidden  crime  through  spe- 
cial insight.  Had  the  price  been  widely  known, 
Ananias,  who  was  perfectly  free  to  use  the 
money  as  he  chose,  could  hardly  have  seriously 
intended  to  maintain  the  pretence  of  offering 
the  whole  price.  Probably,  therefore,  he  was  a 
foreign  Jew.  Were  the  circumstances  fully  re- 
corded, this  and  some  other  difficulties  in  un- 
derstanding the  exact  facts  would  probably  dis- 
appear. For  us  here  it  is  sufficient  to  observe 
that  the  intention  of  the  narrative  is  to  burn 
deep  on  the  popular  conscience  a  moral  warn- 
ing, and  not  merely  to  record  the  precise  de- 
tails of  a  historical  event.  It  is  a  moral  apo- 
logue, not  as  invented  to  embody  a  moral,  but 
as  remembered  because  it  did  so. 


VII 

THE   TEST   OF   TRUTH 
Acfs  J  :  12-42 

Again  a  certain  interval,  which  cannot  be 
estimated  exactly,  elapsed  before  the  next  in- 
cident in  the  history  of  the  Church.  As  in 
chapter  4,  this  new  incident  arose  through  the 
enmity  of  the  Sadducees  (to  whom  the  chief 
priests  belonged,  while  the  humbler  priests  were 
generally  Pharisees,  6  :  7).  On  the  other  hand 
the  Pharisees,  who  had  been  so  hostile  to  Jesus 
himself,  do  not  at  this  time  appear  as  enemies 
of  the  young  Church;  and  one  of  the  leading 
Pharisees  actually  spoke  in  its  defence  at  the 
trial  which  now  occurred.  Their  comparative 
friendliness  to  the  earliest  Christians  at  this 
stage  contrasts  strongly  with  their  fanatical 
hatred  of  Jesus,  and  arose  from  the  Judaic 
character  of  the  primitive  Church,  when  it 
had  the  Temple  as  its  centre  and  sanctuary. 
The  Pharisees  were  nationalists  and  patriots, 
and  regarded  the  Church  as  a  sect  of  the  na- 
44 


TJie  Test  of  Truth  45 

tion,  which  added  to  the  Jewish  ritual  some  un- 
essential and  private  features,  while  it  contin- 
ued true  to  the  essential  facts  of  Hebraism. 
The  Sadducees  had  their  eyes  fixed  on  the  Ro- 
man ofificers,  and  were  apprehensive  lest  any- 
thing should  rouse  Jewish  national  feeling  and 
cause  trouble  with  their  Roman  masters.  The 
Pharisees  had  an  affection  for  all  who  showed 
strong  national  and  religious  feeling  and  who 
made  the  Temple  their  haunt.  The  Sadducees 
dreaded  the  very  name  Messiah,  and  forbade  it 
to  be  mentioned.  The  Pharisees  loved  the 
name,  though  they  had  hated  the  One  whom 
they  considered  a  false  Messiah  :  they  knew 
that  the  Apostles  were  followers  of  Him  whom 
they  had  hated  so,  but  apparently  they  thought 
that  the  followers  had  abandoned  the  more  ob- 
jectionable features  of  their  Master's  teaching, 
especially  the  placing  of  Gentiles  on  an  equality 
of  rights  with  Jews.  Moreover,  the  Sadducees 
hated  and  disbelieved  the  doctrine  of  a  future 
life,  and  the  Apostles  were  preaching  the  Res- 
urrection (4  :  2). 

The  first  trial  had  ended  in  a  mere  warning 
to  the  Apostles  not  to  preach.  They  were  now 
arrested  for  preaching  in  spite  of  the  prohibi- 


46      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tion.  During  the  night  they  escaped  from 
prison;  and  in  the  morning  they  were  found 
actually  preaching  inside  the  Temple.  Hitherto 
they  had  preached  only  in  the  Portico  of  Solo- 
mon on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Temple,  or  in 
a  private  house.  To  preach  inside  the  Temple 
was  a  bolder  act,  especially  for  escaped  pris- 
oners. 

The  manner  of  their  escape  is  not  described 
in  detail:  a  ''messenger  [angelos]  of  the 
Lord"  is  a  term  that  covers  any  one  who  an- 
nounces or  carries  into  effect  the  will  of  God. 
That  Luke  regarded  the  escape  as  effected  by 
supernatural  agency  might  at  first  seem  clear, 
and  this  will  be  enough  for  most  readers. 
Those  who  inquire  more  minutely  will  recog- 
nize both  that  the  narrative  has  passed  from 
the  Semitic  to  the  Greek  mind  (for  Luke  was 
a  Greek),  and  that  in  other  cases  (e.  g.,  14  : 
20,  20  :  9  f.,  28  :  3),  as  we  shall  see,  Luke's 
statement  of  the  facts  does  not  necessitate  (and 
in  the  last  case  forbids)  the  intervention  of  su- 
pernatural agency,  though  he  himself  was  per- 
haps inclined  to  regard  them  all  as  proofs  of 
supernatural  power.  But  in  no  case  does  he 
say  that   supernatural   influence   was  brought 


The  Test  of  Truth  47 

into  play :  he  merely  states  the  facts  as  he  had 
learned  them,  and  leaves  the  reader  to  judge  of 
their  nature. 

Here  we  must  observe  that  the  people  and 
the  rulers,  who  had  all  been  so  much  impressed 
by  the  cure  of  the  lame  man,  took  no  notice  of 
the  escape  from  prison.  They  therefore  saw 
nothing  supernatural  in  it ;  and  when  one  thinks 
of  the  very  simple  character  of  Eastern  prisons 
in  modern  times  and  of  the  way  in  which  pris- 
oners are  often  allowed  out  by  the  gaolers  on 
parole,  one  sees  that  in  this  case  probably  some 
Semitic  popular  fashion  of  stating  a  fact  whose 
exact  nature  was  not  remembered  has  passed 
into  the  language  of  Luke  from  the  mouth  of 
his  informants  in  Palestine. 

The  Apostles  in  the  Temple  were  again  ar- 
rested, but  in  a  courteous  way,  ''without  vio- 
lence." They  were  now  so  much  respected  by 
the  populace  that  any  violence  offered  to  them 
before  a  large  concourse  might  have  caused  a 
riot,  which  it  was  the  object  of  the  Sadducee 
rulers  to  avoid.  This  political  aspect  of  the 
conduct  of  the  ruling  priests  is  never  mentioned 
in  the  tradition,  which  remembered  matters  of 
doctrine  (as  in  4  :  2),  but  disregarded  political 


48     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

facts.  In  the  second  half  of  Acts  it  is  a  marked 
feature  that  relations  with  the  State  are  stated 
so  precisely  by  Luke  from  his  own  observation : 
in  the  first  half  they  are  rarely  thought  of,  be- 
cause the  popular  mind  and  tradition  in  Jeru- 
salem did  not  observe  or  remember  them. 

In  answering  the  charge  of  disobedience  to 
the  former  orders  of  the  Council,  Peter  re- 
peated boldly  the  Apostles'  message,  and  em- 
phasized their  resolve  to  ''obey  God  rather 
than  men."  The  constant  reiteration  of  this 
message  was  now  threatening  to  produce  in 
the  people  the  belief  that  Jesus  had  been  un- 
justly slain;  and  as  the  Apostles  cast  on  the 
Jewish  leaders  the  responsibility  for  His  mur- 
der, the  people  might  take  vengeance  on  the 
guilty  ones.  The  rulers  thought  that  the  Apos- 
tles ''intended  to  bring  this  Man's  blood  upon 
them."  Peter's  bold  defiance  began  to  suggest 
to  their  minds  that  the  safest  way  might  be  to 
kill  the  Apostles  and  prevent  the  danger;  but 
they  could  not  carry  with  them  the  whole 
Council. 

Gamaliel,  one  of  the  most  famous  of  all  the 
Rabbis,  spoke  the  mind  of  the  Pharisees,  dis- 
couraging any  strong  action  and  advising  that 


The  Test  of  Truth  49 

the  Christians  should  be  let  alone,  as  the  move- 
ment would  soon  exhaust  itself  if  it  were 
caused  by  mere  human  power,  while  if  it  were 
the  work  of  God  it  was  both  vain  and  wicked 
to  fight  against  it.  In  Gamaliel's  speech  there 
probably  lay  under  the  surface  some  move  in 
the  partisan  strife  between  Sadducees  and 
Pharisees,  which  did  not  interest  or  impress 
the  memory  of  the  Church.  His  sentiments 
seemed  to  the  Christians  to  be  a  Divine  in- 
spiration. They  accepted  his  test  of  truth,  and 
remembered  it  in  his  own  impressive  words : 
"Refrain  from  these  men,  and  let  them  alone; 
for  if  this  counsel  or  this  work  be  of  men, 
it  will  be  overthrown;  but  if  it  is  of  God,  ye 
will  not  be  able  to  overthrow  them." 

Amid  this  diversity  of  opinion  the  rulers 
could  not  venture  on  extreme  measures ;  and 
they  were  content  to  warn  the  Apostles  and  to 
beat  them,  hoping  thus  to  frighten  others  from 
joining  the  movement. 

Notwithstanding  the  action  of  the  rulers, 
the  Apostles  continued  steadfast  in  their  duty. 
They  taught  daily,  both  in  the  temple  and  at 
home.  The  preaching  had  begun  in  a  house 
(2  :  2,  ff.)  but  from  2  :  46  onwards  it  was 


50      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

connected  rather  with  the  temple,  especially  the 
Portico  of  Solomon  (v.  12).  The  home  was 
reserved  rather  for  more  intimate  and  private 
communion  among  the  brethren,  when  the  daily 
meal  was  accompanied  by  the  solemn  rite  of 
'The  Breaking  of  Bread."  But  the  surround- 
ings are  still  purely  Jewish  in  appearance.  The 
very  slight  references  to  a  wider  horizon  and  a 
wider  world  for  the  Gospel  are  now  signifi- 
cantly wanting;  and  the  sympathetic  opinion  of 
the  Pharisees,  which  saw  in  the  young  Church 
only  a  fervently  national  school  of  Hebrew 
thought,  seemed  to  be  finding  full  justification. 
Yet  the  seeds  of  a  wider  movement  were  in  the 
soil,  destined  very  soon  to  awaken  to  life  and 
to  appear  above  the  ground. 


VIII 

GOOD    ORDER    MAKES    FOR    ACTIVITY 
IN    THE    CHURCH 

Acts  6  :  7-7 

The  distribution  of  a  permanent  Church 
Fund  meant  an  increase  of  work;  and,  after  a 
certain  lapse  of  time  (which  was  probably  not 
long),  the  Apostles  found  that  this  financial 
task  threatened  to  interfere  with  the  more  urg- 
ent duty  of  teaching,  while  the  congregation 
found  that  some  were  overlooked  in  the  daily 
ministration.  Taking  together  2  :  46,  4  :  35, 
6  :  I,  2,  we  observe  a  kind  of  congregational 
life,  in  which  the  funded  donations  of  the  rich 
were  used  to  furnish  a  daily  meal  for  the  poor 
and  especially  for  the  widows,  and  in  which 
some  difference  of  character  and  feeling  began 
to  exist  between  two  distinct  classes,  one  the 
Jews  of  Palestine,  the  other  the  Jews  belong- 
ing to  foreign  countries.  The  latter  class  are 
usually  called  Hellenists,  because  they  spoke 
the  Greek  or  Hellenic  language,  and  were  much 

51 


52      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

better  educated  in  the  Hellenic  civilization  than 
the  native  Palestinian  Jews. 

It  was  inevitable  that,  as  a  rule,  the  native 
Jews  should  be  better  known  to  the  leading 
persons  in  the  congregation,  the  Apostles  espe- 
cially, who  were  originally  all  natives  of  Pales- 
tine ;  and  there  may  have  been  some  ground  in 
fact,  though  not  in  intention,  for  the  com- 
plaint of  the  Hellenists  that  their  widows  were 
suffering  from  neglect.  The  complaint  was 
promptly  met  by  a  further  step  in  organiza- 
tion which  the  Apostles  proposed — the  appoint- 
ment of  seven  men  to  serve  the  tables.  It  is 
not  implied  that  the  Apostles  themselves  had 
previously  served,  but  only  that  it  was  now 
found  necessary  to  have  special  officials  charged 
with  a  duty  which  had  hitherto  been  done  in  an 
unregulated  and  haphazard  fashion.  Responsi- 
bility for  the  duty  must  be  imposed  on  some 
definite  persons,  and  as  the  Apostles  could  not 
undertake  the  work,  the  Seven  were  chosen 
by  the  congregation.  Hitherto  various  per- 
sons had  acted  voluntarily,  as  the  need  called ; 
and  in  this  way  capability  had  been  tested. 
Those  who  had  most  approved  themselves  and 
gained  the  respect  and  good  report  of  the  peo- 


Good  Order  Makes  for  Activity     53 

pie  were  now  chosen.  They  were  also  men  of 
wisdom,  who  were  likely  to  show  tact  and  good 
sense  in  distributing  alms  suitably  among  claim- 
ants who  thought  that  they  had  been  neglected. 
The  Patriarch  Chrysostom  in  the  fourth  cent- 
ury says  that  ''it  needed  great  philosophy  to 
bear  with  the  complaints  of  the  widows."  This 
early  congregation  was,  after  all,  only  human 
and  had  its  share  of  faults. 

Luke  names  the  Seven,  but  only  two  of  them 
appear  further  in  his  history.  He  had  good 
information  here  at  his  disposal  up  to  a  cer- 
tain point.  In  the  list  he  gives  no  information 
about  any  except  Stephen,  who  proved  a  leader 
in  the  Church,  and  Nicolas,  a  Greek  of  Antioch, 
converted  to  Judaism  and  thereafter  to  Chris- 
tianity. The  statement  about  Nicolas  is  evi- 
dently intended  by  Luke  to  mark  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  a  Gentile,  originally  a  heathen,  in 
a  leading  position  among  the  Christians,  and  it 
is  important  to  note  that  Nicolas  was  a  prose- 
lyte, i.e.  he  had  conformed  entirely  to  the  Jew- 
ish ritual  and  the  requirements  of  the  law. 
Now  it  is  certain  that  ordinary  Jews  would  dis- 
like to  have  their  food  apportioned  and  dis- 
tributed by  a  Gentile,  and  we  may  fairly  infer 


54     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

that  desire  to  avoid  such  difficulties  would  have 
prevented  the  congregation  from  selecting  Nic- 
olas, unless  he  had  some  special  suitability  for 
a  particular  sphere  of  duty.  In  fact  we  must 
infer  that  other  proselytes  had  joined  the 
Church,  and  that  Nicolas  had  the  duty  of  look- 
ing after  and  giving  information  about  their 
needs.  Thus  we  recognize  the  growing  com- 
plexity, as  well  as  the  increase  in  numbers  of 
the  Church.  We  observe  also  the  spirit  of  fair- 
ness that  guided  the  action  of  the  congregation. 

If  Nicolas  represented  a  special  class,  prob- 
ably the  others  had  fixed  spheres  of  duty. 
We  notice  in  6  :  9  that  there  were  other  di- 
visions of  Jews  in  Jerusalem,  meeting  in  their 
separate  synagogues.  It  may  be  taken  as 
highly  probable  that  the  Church  drew  its  mem- 
bers from  all  of  these  synagogues,  and  that  the 
rest  of  the  Seven  were  specially  qualified  to 
represent  particular  sections  of  the  people. 

The  Apostles  proposed  that  there  should  be 
Seven.  The  number  was  evidently  a  suitable 
one;  and,  as  it  seems  unlikely  that  the  suit- 
ability lay  merely  in  its  being  a  sacred  number 
in  old  Hebrew  belief,  we  must  suppose  that 
there  were  seven  obvious  spheres  of  duty.    But 


Good  Order  Makes  for  Activity     55 

on  this  point  Luke  gives  no  information.  The 
tradition  of  the  Church  preserved  the  names  of 
the  Seven,  but  was  silent  about  divisions  and 
all  such  ephemeral  matters.  The  historical 
scholar  may  regret  the  silence,  but  Luke  did 
not  write  for  modern  historians,  he  wrote  for 
the  Christian  congregations  of  his  own  day, 
and  he  recorded  what  they  needed  and  desired. 
The  official  work  imposed  on  the  Seven  did 
not  supersede  the  duty  incumbent  on  all  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation  to  evangelize.  On 
the  contrary,  this  proof  of  public  confi- 
dence stimulated  them  to  more  active  mis- 
sion work.  One  of  the  qualifications  in 
choosing  the  Seven  had  been  that  they  should 
be  full  of  the  Spirit;  and  now  the  Church, 
through  improvement  in  practical  organization, 
took  a  new  start  in  vigor  of  spiritual  life.  A 
well-governed  community  is  also  always  an  ac- 
tive and  energetic  community.  The  next  steps 
in  the  progress  of  the  Church  were  made  by 
two  of  the  Seven,  and  not  by  any  Apostle.  It 
was,  doubtless,  the  facts  of  subsequent  history, 
and  not  order  of  precedence  in  the  election,  that 
makes  Luke  name  Stephen  first  in  the  list  and 
Philip  second.     Church  tradition  remembered 


56      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

the  names  in  this  order.  We  have  here  not 
an  official  record,  but  the  memory  of  the 
Christians  in  Jerusalem. 

Nor  should  we  think  that  the  appointment 
of  the  Seven  put  an  end  to  the  voluntary  work 
that  had  hitherto  been  done  in  distributing  the 
public  benevolence.  That  work  was  now  reg- 
ulated, but  did  not  cease.  The  congregation  at 
Jerusalem  was  always  poor;  and  the  Church 
from  first  to  last  undertook  the  charge  of  the 
poor,  and  especially  of  widows   (9  :  41). 


IX 


THE    DEATH    OF    STEPHEN    THE    VICTORY 
OF    THE    CHURCH 

Acis  6  :  8  to  y  :  60 

With  the  appointment  of  the  Seven  began  a 
period  of  activity  and  rapid  growth.  Espe- 
cially ''a  great  company  of  the  priests  were 
obedient  to  the  Faith."  The  lower  priests  were 
mainly  Pharisees,  in  contrast  to  the  Sadducee 
chief-priests;  and  the  approximation  of  the 
Pharisees  to  the  Church  was  evidently  still  con- 
tinuing. The  term  ^'obeyed"  is  carefully 
chosen  :  these  priests  added  the  Law  of  Christ 
to  the  strict  Hebrew  ritual.  The  Church  could 
still  be  mistaken  for  a  school  or  sect  of  Juda- 
ism. 

Stephen  burst  these  bonds.  He  boldly  taught 
that  the  Temple  and  the  Law  of  Moses  were 
evanescent,  because  the  Faith  of  Jesus  must 
recreate  the  Law  and  abrogate  the  exclusive 
sanctity  of  the  Temple.     His  teaching  roused 

57 


58      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

disputation  in  several  Hellenist^  synagogues — 
evidently  those  where  he,  as  himself  a  Hel- 
lenist, had  chiefly  preached. 

Now  this  teaching  marks  a  forward  step 
beyond  anything  mentioned  in  Acts  previously ; 
but  it  was  a  step  which  the  Church  made  as  a 
whole.  Stephen  was  not  disowned  by  the 
Apostles,  though  his  teaching  was  more  out- 
spoken than  theirs.  He  was  recognized  by  the 
Church  as  uttering  the  mind  and  the  words  of 
Jesus.  His  trial  followed;  and  it  is  described 
in  terms  which  show  the  deep  veneration  felt 
for  him.  The  analogy  between  it  and  the  trial 
of  the  Lord  was  clearly  brought  out  in  the  early 
tradition;  no  such  analogy  appears  in  the  ac- 
count of  the  Apostles'  trials.  Stephen  was  ac- 
cused in  terms  which  recall  some  charges  made 
against  Jesus,  and  false  witnesses  were  em- 
ployed against  both.  The  violent  passions 
aroused  and  the  flagrant  injustice  of  the  meth- 
ods  employed  mark  both  trials.     There  are, 

*  The  terms  "Hellenist"  and  "Hellene"  must  be  care- 
fully distinguished.  A  "Hellenist"  was  a  Jew,  educated 
among  Greek  surroundings  and  speaking  Greek  as  his 
familiar  tongue  (see  Section  VHI.).  A  "Hellene"  was  a 
Gentile,  possessed  of  the  Greek  education  and  spirit, 
whether  or  not  he  was  a  Greek  by  blood. 


The  Death  of  Stephen  59 

however,  two  differences.  Stephen  repHed. 
Jesus  answered  never  a  word.  Stephen  was 
deeply  moved.  Jesus  was  perfectly  quiet 
throughout. 

The  expression  "false  witnesses"  does  not 
imply  that  they  invented  words  which  Stephen 
had  not  used,  but  that  they  took  his  isolated 
sayings  apart  from  their  context,  and  thus  put 
into  them  an  unjustified  innuendo.  It  was 
easy  to  distort  his  teaching  about  the  incom- 
pleteness of  the  Hebrew  Law  into  blasphemy 
against  Moses  and  against  God;  and  this  was 
the  evidence.  The  trial,  as  we  notice,  orig- 
inated, not  from  the  Sadducee  rulers,  nor  from 
the  bigoted  native  Jews,  but  from  the  Hellenist 
synagogues  where  thought  was  freer.  The 
Hellenist  Jews  felt  that  they  themselves  had 
gone  exactly  to  the  right  point  in  freedom  of 
thought,  and  they  were  enraged  against  one 
who  went  further  in  the  same  direction.  How 
the  trial  might  have  gone  if  Stephen  had  shown 
a  desire  to  conciliate  his  opponents,  and  had 
stooped  to  minimize  or  explain  away  his  views, 
there  is  no  possibility  of  conjecturing.  He  took 
the  opposite  course,  seizing  the  opportunity  of 
giving  emphasis  to  his  teaching;  and  his  con- 


6o      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

eluding  words  press  home  the  charge  against 
his  opponents  with  a  passionate  enthusiasm, 
which  a  colder  intellect  might  even  call  provo- 
cative. 

His  hearers  believed  that  the  Law  was  given 
to  Moses  once  for  all,  perfect  and  final,  need- 
ing only  to  be  rightly  interpreted,  and  that  the 
Temple  was  the  one  chosen  Sanctuary  where 
God  revealed  himself.  Stephen  argued  in  his 
outspoken  and  individual  speech  that: — 

1.  The  revelation  of  God's  Will  and  Cove- 
nant had  been  gradual,  and  began  long  before 
Moses. 

2.  It  had  been  made,  not  in  the  Temple, 
but  in  other  places  and  in  heathen  lands. 

3.  God's  Promise  often  seemed  at  the  mo- 
ment to  be  impossible  of  fulfilment,  yet  His 
Covenant  always  proved  true  and  ought  to  be 
accepted  as  sufficient  in  itself  as  soon  as  it  was 
made. 

4.  The  Jews  at  every  stage  were  slow  to 
believe,  obstinate  enemies  and  persecutors  of 
those  through  whom  God  was  working,  as  Jo- 
seph whom  they  sold  into  slavery,  and  Moses 
whom  they  cast  out  in  infancy,  rejected  when 
he  first  came  to  deliver  them,  and  turned  away 


The  Death  of  Stephen  6i 

from  after  he  had  led  them  out  of  Egypt,  at 
the  very  time  when  he  was  receiving  God's 
greatest  revelation. 

5.  At  every  stage  the  actions  of  these  rebel- 
lious and  unbelieving  Jews  served  only  to  work 
out  God's  Will  :  their  treatment  of  Joseph  and 
Moses  placed  both  in  a  position  to  serve  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Divine  purpose. 

6.  God  appointed  a  Tabernacle.  Solomon 
built  a  temple.  God  dvi'ells  not  in  a  house  built 
by  men. 

Although  Jesus  is  not  mentioned  in  this  re- 
view of  Hebrew  history,  He  is  in  the  speaker's 
mind  throughout;  and  the  hearers  could  not 
fail  to  draw  the  hidden  reference  to  Him  from 
every  biting  sentence.  He  was  rejected, 
scorned,  ill-treated,  like  Joseph  and  Moses.  The 
Jews  had  disbelieved  the  promise  made  in  Him, 
as  they  had  disbelieved  past  promises.  This 
meaning  was  so  evident  that  the  audience, 
judges,  and  witnesses  grew  ever  more  angry; 
and  Stephen  must  have  felt  this,  for  he  sud- 
denly broke  off  the  line  of  his  argument  and 
burst  into  the  indignant  climax,  7  :  51-53, 
pointing  the  moral  in  term.s  of  the  most  cut- 
ting rebuke.    The  accused  became  the  accuser. 


62      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

He  charged  them  all  with  the  murder  of  the 
Prophets  and  of  the  Righteous  One,  and  with 
continual  disobedience  to  the  Law  in  its  letter 
and  its  spirit. 

The  speech  was  interrupted.  It  had  reached 
its  climax,  though  probably  not  its  conclusion. 
Stephen's  point,  that  Israel  could  never  obey 
the  Law,  was  afterwards  a  favorite  Pauline 
idea.  Whether  Stephen  would  have  pro- 
ceeded, as  Paul  hereafter  always  did,  to  argue 
that  the  Jews  could  get  through  Jesus  the  right- 
eousness which  they  could  never  win  from 
obedience  to  the  Law,  remains  unknown. 

The  audience  was  now  mad  with  fury  at 
this  open  defiance,  as  Stephen  trampled  on 
their  deepest  prejudices  and  their  pride  of  race 
and  birth  and  institutions.  At  the  beginning 
of  his  speech  they  had  seen  his  face  glow 
with  enthusiasm,  shining  as  the  face  of  an 
angel, ''reflecting  the  glory  of  the  Lord"  (2  Cor. 
3  :  18),  as  Paul  always  remembered  it,  and 
had  evidently  described  it  to  Luke.  That  sight 
had  produced  a  deep  impression  and  secured 
a  hearing  so  far  for  the  speaker,  in  spite  of 
the  dislike  for  the  evident  drift  of  his 
words.     Now  the  audience  could  not  restrain 


The  Death  of  Stephen  63 

its  rage,  and  their  demonstration  stopped  the 
speech. 

Stephen,  however,  was  only  more  trans- 
ported with  enthusiasm  and  inspiration  than 
before.  As  he  had  begun  by  mentioning  "the 
God  of  the  Glory,"  so  now  he  beheld  the  Glory 
itself.  His  gaze  pierced  into  the  very  Heavens. 
Time  and  human  limitations  were  effaced  for 
him,  and  he  beheld  the  real  and  the  eternal 
truth,  ''the  Glory  of  God,  and  Jesus  standing 
on  His  right  hand." 

Those  who  set  store  by  details  in  the  em- 
blematic expression  of  Divine  facts  as  the 
feeble  language  of  man  seeks  to  describe  them, 
may  find  either  some  significance  or  some  in- 
consistency in  the  fact  that  Jesus  is  elsewhere 
pictured  as  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 
To  us  such  differences  seem  to  proceed  from 
the  weakness  of  human  language  in  the  pic- 
turing of  Divine  realities. 

The  catastrophe  followed  immediately.  The 
assembly  burst  through  all  the  restraints  of 
Roman  law  and  order,  but  it  is  noteworthy  that 
they  observed  all  the  forms  of  the  Jewish  Law 
in  giving  to  the  murder  of  Stephen  the  appear- 
ance of  a  judicial  execution.     It  is  not  im- 


64      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

probable  that  a  form  of  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced, in  which  Paul  gave  his  vote.  Stephen 
was,  according  to  the  Law,  taken  outside  the 
camp  (Lev.  24  :  I4ff.)  ;  the  witnesses  cast 
the  first  stone  at  him  (Deut.  17  :  7),  preparing 
for  the  active  work  by  taking  off  their  upper 
garments  and  giving  them  in  charge  to  Saul, 
w^ho  was  evidently  placed  in  charge  of  the 
whole  proceedings. 

One  effect  of  the  explosion  seems  to  have 
been  to  destroy  the  rapprochement  between 
the  Pharisees  and  the  young  Church.  Stephen 
had  made  it  evident  that  the  Church  was  not 
.a  mere  school  of  Judaism,  and  his  teaching  had 
been  accepted  by  all.  A  persecution  followed 
on  the  moment,  and  it  is  described  as  breaking 
out  in  full  fury  even  before  Stephen  was  bur- 
ied. The  Christians  fled  to  all  parts  of  Judea 
and  Samaria,  and  it  seemed  for  a  moment 
that  the  Church  in  Jerusalem  was  killed.  But 
the  words  of  Stephen  proved  true:  it  was  al- 
ways the  acts  of  the  Jews  in  resisting  and  re- 
jecting the  Prophets  that  became  the  means  of 
effecting  the  Divine  purpose.  He  had  made  a 
deep  impression  by  his  life;  he  made  a  far 
deeper  impression  by  his  death. 


The  Death  of  Stephen  65 

Stephen  was  buried  by  'Mevout  men."  This 
term'  might  include  any  who  worshipped  the 
God  of  the  Hebrews,  the  one  true  God.  The 
employment  of  such  a  term  in  this  case  sug- 
gests the  probability  that  strangers  buried 
Stephen,  while  the  Christians  were  being 
hunted  down  and  could  take  no  action. 

'A   different    Greek   word    here   from   Acts    17:  17; 
see  footnote  on  Section  XVIII. 


X 

TRUE  AND  FALSE  BELIEF 
Ads  8 :  1-24 

The  most  striking  result  of  the  severe  per- 
secution that  began  at  Jerusalem  after  the 
murder  of  Stephen — the  result  which  stood  out 
clearly  and  firmly  fixed  in  the  memory  of  the 
Church  and  so  passed  into  the  record  of  Luke 
— was  that  the  new  teaching,  hitherto  confined 
to  Jerusalem,  was  now  carried  widely  through 
Palestine,  inasmuch  as  ''they  that  were  scat- 
tered abroad  passed  through  [the  country] 
spreading  the  good  news  of  the  Word" ;  town 
by  town  and  village  by  village.  The  congre- 
gation in  Jerusalem  had  become  very  numer- 
ous, and  thousands  of  missionaries  were  now 
going  about,  each  working  in  his  own  way, 
conversing  in  the  guest-houses  where  they 
were  received,  telling  the  news  of  the  capital 
to  the  rustics  in  the  villages,  or  formally 
preaching  the  Word.  Not  a  single  detail  con- 
66 


True  and  False  Belief  67 

cerning  the  Jewish  part  of  the  land  is  recorded 
at  this  point.  Luke  contents  himself  with  the 
general  statement,  giving  us  to  understand 
that  a  strong  impression  was  produced  through- 
out the  Jewish  towns  and  villages. 

The  historian's  interest  is  now  directed  to 
the  next  stage  in  the  growth  of  the  Church, 
viz.,  the  spread  of  the  new  Faith  to  non-Jew- 
ish peoples  and  regions.  The  mere  diffusion 
of  the  Word  among  Jews  alone  would  have 
tended  to  confine  the  Church  within  the  nar- 
rower form  of  a  mere  sect  of  the  Hebrews, 
as  it  had  at  first  appeared  to  be  in  Jerusalem. 
That  stage  has  already  been  sufficiently  de- 
scribed; and  Luke  goes  on  now  to  depict  the 
process  whereby  the  Faith  spread  to  the  Sa- 
maritans, the  Phoenicians  (11  :  19,  15  :  3), 
and  northern  Syria  generally  (9  :  2,  11  :  19). 
In  all  those  regions,  except  perhaps  Samaria, 
there  were  many  Jews ;  and  it  was  natural  that 
the  fugitives  from  Jerusalem,  being  almost  all 
Jews  by  race,  should  come  most  quickly  and 
easily  into  relations  with  their  own  nation. 
Thus  most  of  them  confined  their  work  within 
the  circle  of  the  Jewish  assembly  in  each  town. 
Some,  however,  did  not  thus  limit  their  efforts ; 


68      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

and  it  is  to  this  class  of  missionaries  that  Luke 
now  directs  the  attention  of  his  readers. 

The  first  step  beyond  the  circle  of  the  Syna- 
gogue— i.e.  the  Jews  and  Proselytes — in  each 
town,  was  taken  by  Philip,  one  of  the  Seven, 
who  went  down  to  Samaria  and  proclaimed  the 
Messiah  and  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  its  in- 
habitants. No  special  reason  is  given  for  this 
step.  No  special  command  or  revelation  to 
Philip  is  mentioned:  and  we  are  left  to  infer 
that  this  arose  through  his  own  initiative  in 
the  general  scattering  of  the  brethren.  Nor 
is  it  stated  what  special  meaning  he  gave  to 
the  Kingdom  of  God;  but  it  is  noteworthy 
that  this  term  has  not  been  mentioned  in  the 
early  preaching  at  Jerusalem,  since  the  ques- 
tion of  I  :  6,  which  shows  such  a  misapprehen- 
sion of  its  real  nature;  and  it  is  probable  that 
a  step  in  the  method  and  the  scope  of  Chris- 
tian teaching  is  implied  to  have  been  made  by 
Philip. 

The  importance  of  Philip's  action  lay  mainly 
in  the  fact  that  the  Samaritans,  though  partly 
of  Jewish  blood,  were  schismatics,  who  were 
hated  and  despised  by  the  Jews  because  they 
claimed  to  possess  among  themselves  the  true 


True  and  False  Belief  69 

temple  and  the  true  Law,  whereas  the  Jews 
held  them  to  be  mere  pretenders  and  heretics, 
worse  than  aliens.  The  Samaritans  believed 
in  and  were  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah,  and  it  was  probably  through  this  ex- 
pectation on  their  part  that  Philip  was  led 
on  to  preach  the  true  Messiah  and  His  King- 
dom to  them;  and  he  doubtless  remembered 
the  conduct  of  Jesus  to  the  woman  of  Samaria. 
Among  those  who  thus  were  brought  into 
the  Church  was  a  man  named  Simon,  one  of 
a  class  of  persons  very  numerous  in  that  age. 
He  was  teacher  of  a  kind  of  philosophic 
religion,  in  which  the  Divine  Nature  was  de- 
scribed as  manifesting  itself  in  various  degrees 
of  intensity  to  mankind,  and  embodying  itself 
in  certain  individuals  with  greater  or  less 
gradations  of  power.  There  was  a  certain 
higher  side  to  this  thought:  it  concerned  it- 
self with  the  power  of  God  and  it  recognized 
as  a  fundamental  fact  that  God  took  an  inter- 
est in  mankind  and  revealed  Himself  to  men. 
But  Simon,  while  not  unconscious  of  this 
higher  side,  practised  on  the  credulity  and 
superstition  of  the  multitude.  He  pretended 
that  he  was  the  most  complete  impersonation 


70     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

of  God's  power,  and  he  was  accepted  by  the 
whole  people  on  his  own  pretension  as  that 
power  of  God  (i.e.  that  embodiment  of  Divine 
power)  which  is  entitled  "Great."  This 
claim  he  supported  by  performing  sorceries, 
which  deluded  the  populace. 

From  similar  cases  which  are  known  at  that 
time  w^e  can  imagine  what  sort  of  arts  Simon 
practised.  Partly  he  had  some  scientific 
knowledge  and  some  command  over  the  re- 
sources of  nature  through  chemical  and  other 
processes.  Partly  he  used  pure  jugglery  and 
legerdemain.  Partly  he  imposed  himself  on 
the  minds  of  his  audience  by  clever  teaching 
of  a  semi-philosophic  type. 

But  it  is  important  to  observe  that  Simon 
was  not  a  pure  impostor.  There  was  in  him 
an  element  of  belief,  and  a  certain  vague  per- 
ception of  truth,  as  the  following  considera- 
tions show.  In  this  brief  history,  in  which 
Luke  with  marvelous  skill  and  insight  concen- 
trates attention  on  the  great  stages  of  his  sub- 
ject, there  would  be  no  room  to  tell  how  the 
Church  proved  stronger  than  a  mere  vulgar 
cheat.  In  every  sentence  Luke  has  in  mind  the 
interests  of  the  Christian  congregation  of  be- 


True  and  False  Belief  7 1 

lievers  generally,  and  they  did  not  need  to  be 
convinced  that  a  mere  impostor  could  not  stand 
against  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Philip 
and  Peter  and  John.  The  very  fact  that,  when 
his  devotees  and  dupes  deserted  him,  Simon 
could  not  stand  out  against  Philip,  but  believed 
and  was  baptized,  shows  a  certain  capacity  for 
appreciating  spiritual  truth,  and  a  certain  power 
to  learn.  The  man  who  could  accept  his  de- 
feat and  make  his  conqueror  his  teacher  was 
not  a  mere  charlatan;  nor  would  Philip  have 
been  deceived  by  a  pure  impostor. 

Although  this  new  step  had  been  made  by 
Philip  without  formal  authorization  from  the 
Church  and  the  Twelve,  it  was  regarded  with 
no  prejudice  by  them,  but  was  estimated  fairly 
and  dispassionately  on  its  merits.  Peter  and 
John,  who  had  taken  a  leading  place  in  the 
counsels  of  the  Church,  were  sent  to  Samaria 
to  investigate.  The  one  question  asked  was 
whether  the  Spirit  of  God  was  in  the  work. 
Where  the  Spirit  led,  the  Church  went.  This 
openness  and  freedom  of  mind,  this  readiness 
to  accept  new  methods  and  wider  views,  this 
willingness  to  learn  and  to  advance,  is  a  strik- 
ing feature  of  the  primitive  Church. 


72      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Evidently  the  possession  of  the  Spirit  is  here 
regarded  in  simple  fashion  as  indicated  through 
certain  external  phenomena  (as  in  2  :  4,  lo  : 
45).  This  is  an  early  trait.  Luke's  informant 
(as  to  whom  there  will  be  more  to  say  in  the 
next  Section)  faithfully  reported  to  him  the 
primitive  view  of  the  Church,  that  those  out- 
ward phenomena  and  acts  proved  the  indwelling 
Spirit.  Afterwards  Paul  attained  and  taught 
the  deeper  view  that  the  transformation  of  the 
individual's  moral  character  and  nature,  shown 
in  his  life,  is  the  truest  test  of  the  possession  of 
the  Spirit,  and  that  the  external  phenomena 
are,  as  he  says  to  the  Corinthians  and  every- 
where implies,  of  secondary  importance. 

Luke  in  his  history  is  alive  to  both  views. 
He  tells  how  the  Spirit  was  proved  in  the 
Church  by  the  moral  character  and  conduct 
of  the  brethren  (2  :  46,  and  other  places),  but 
he  accurately  records  the  primitive  view;  he 
always  mentions  prominently  the  external 
proofs  of  the  Spirit,  and  nowhere  describes 
the  situation  purely  from  the  more  developed 
point  of  view  of  Paul's  teaching.  In  this  re- 
spect the  history  shows  itself  faithful  and  true 
to  the  actual  character  of  the  earliest  period. 


True  and  False  Belief  "jt^ 

It  is  not  stated  that  every  Samaritan  convert 
received  the  Spirit.  The  Greek  words  describe 
a  long  process :  the  Apostles  were  laying  hands 
on  them  individually,  and  each  then  received 
the  Spirit.  Simon  saw  the  process,  and  the 
imperfection  of  his  belief,  the  hoUowness  of 
his  character,  and  the  moral  worthlessness 
of  his  specious  scientific  knowledge,  were  dis- 
closed. He  was  eager  to  obtain  the  same 
power  that  the  Apostles  possessed;  and  he 
came  offering  to  purchase  it  with  money,  as  if 
it  were  an  education  in  a  scientific  process  ac- 
cording to  formal  laws,  which  could  be  taught 
by  a  professor  to  his  pupils  for  a  fee.  That 
was  the  only  knowledge  that  he  possessed ;  and 
his  moral  nature  had  not  been  so  far  influenced 
that  he  had  shared  his  wealth  with  the  poor 
or  begun  to  feel  ashamed  of  the  gains  which  he 
had  made  by  such  dubious  means. 

Peter  rebuked  him  in  strong  and  prophetic 
terms.  The  prophecy  is  concealed  in  the  or- 
dinary translation ;  the  Greek  means  "thou  art 
for  a  gall  of  bitterness  and  a  fetter  of  un- 
righteousness," i.e.  a  cause  of  bitterness  and 
corruption  to  others.  A  man  of  such  powers 
as  Simon  possessed  must  be  a  cause  of  much 


74     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

evil  in  the  world,  when  these  powers  are  guided 
neither  by  true  moral  and  religious  ideas  nor  by- 
right  knowledge. 

His  answer  brings  out  his  utter  failure  to 
apprehend  the  moral  side  of  true  knowledge. 
Peter  had  told  him  that  the  only  way  to  for- 
giveness for  him  was  through  repentance  and 
prayer.  Simon  replied  by  asking  the  Apostles 
to  pray  for  him,  that  he  might  be  spared  the 
misfortunes  which  Peter  had  denounced 
against  him.  He  still  regarded  the  process  of 
salvation  as  something  external  to  himself  and 
not  affecting  his  inner  life  and  character.  Oth- 
ers must  pray  for  him;  persons  who  possessed 
more  of  the  Divine  power  than  he  possessed 
must  help  him.  Of  real  repentance  and  in- 
ward change  of  heart  he  shows  not  a  trace. 
Thus  he  justifies  the  doubts  that  Peter  ex- 
pressed whether  he  could  be  forgiven.  We 
must  understand  that  those  doubts  arose  not 
as  to  whether  forgiveness  was  possible,  but 
as  to  whether  Simon  would  repent  and  earn  it. 

And  so  Simon  passes  out  of  this  history, 
but  not  out  of  the  wider  life  of  the 
church,  which  remembered  how  he  had 
become   a  leader  of  error,   a  root  spreading 


True  and  False  Belief  75 

bitterness  and  evil  among  the  Christians,  the 
first  person  who  taught  and  obtained  credence 
for  a  doctrine  opposed  to  that  of  the  Apostles. 
He  continued  to  claim  a  place  within  the 
Church,  and  by  remaining  inside  it  to  increase 
his  power  of  doing  harm.  But  no  early  tradi- 
tion is  recorded ;  only  in  the  second  century  and 
later  have  we  any  further  account  of  his  for- 
tunes; and  the  tradition  had  gathered  around 
it,  in  the  long  lapse  of  time,  much  that  is  in- 
credible and  impossible,  so  that  no  single  de- 
tail can  be  stated  with  confidence  about  him; 
but  the  general  fact  stands  out  plain  that  Peter 
correctly  gauged  his  character  and  foresaw  its 
consequences. 


XI 

THE  PROPHET  IN  THE  WILDERNESS 
Acts  8  :  23-40 

From  Samaria  the  Apostles  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  on  the  way  their  cordial  approval 
of  the  advance  which  Philip  had  made  was 
shown  by  the  fact  that  they  occupied  themselves 
in  telling  the  good  news  of  the  gospel  in  many 
Samarian  villages.  Their  journey  must  there- 
fore have  been  slow.  Philip  did  not  return 
with  them,  but  went  away  into  the  wilderness 
that  lay  on  the  south  of  Judea  between  Pales- 
tine and  Egypt.  Then  followed  another  in- 
cident, one  of  the  most  picturesque  in  the  whole 
book,  narrated  in  a  marked  style,  which  is 
characterized  more  by  the  spirit  of  the  Old 
Testament  than  by  the  usual  tone  of  the  New. 

Philip  was  ordered  by  the  messenger  of  the 

Lord  to  go  southwards  into  the  wilderness  to 

strike  the  road  that  leads  from  Jerusalem  to 

Gaza  and  thence  along  the  coast  towards  Egypt 

76 


The  Prophet  in  the  Wilderness       77 

and  Ethiopia.  There  he  saw  a  traveler,  an 
important  Ethiopian  official,  superintendent  of 
the  royal  treasury,  who  had  visited  Jerusalem 
to  worship  and  was  now  returning  to  his  own 
land.  A  traveler  of  such  high  rank,  with  a 
long  journey  before  him  not  free  from  danger, 
was  of  course  accompanied  by  some  consider- 
able retinue  of  servants  and  guards.  But  these 
are  not  alluded  to ;  they  were  of  no  consequence 
in  this  history,  which  concentrates  attention 
on  the  important  incidents  and  persons,  and 
leaves  the  rest  out  of  notice.  The  Spirit  moved 
Philip  to  approach  this  officer  and  address  him. 
An  opportunity  was  afforded  by  the  book  which 
the  Ethiopian  was  reading  aloud  to  himself :  it 
was  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  and  the  passage 
was  in  the  fifty-third  chapter,  where  the  prophet 
describes  the  Suffering  Servant  of  God  in 
terms  which  have  always  been  applied  to  Jesus 
from  the  time  when  His  death  opened  men's 
eyes  to  the  real  character  and  purpose  of  His 
life. 

As  was  natural  in  that  period,  when  Greek 
was  the  language  of  educated  men,  the  Ethio- 
pian was  reading  the  Greek  translation,  which 
sometimes  differs  considerably  from  the  He- 


78      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

brew ;  and  the  second  of  the  two  verses  that  he 
recited  is  so  rendered  in  the  Greek  as  to  be 
obscure  and  incorrect.  It  was  therefore  not 
strange  that  the  reader,  without  some  one  to 
guide  him,  found  himself  unable  to  comprehend 
the  words,  or  understand  who  was  described  in 
them.  The  second  verse,  Isaiah  53  :  8,  is 
given  after  the  Hebrew  in  the  Revised  Version 
of  the  Old  Testament  thus :  "By  oppression  and 
judgment  [i.e.  by  an  unfair  sentence]  He  was 
taken  away:  and  as  for  His  generation  [i.  e. 
the  men  of  His  time],  who  among  them  con- 
sidered that  He  was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of 
the  living?" 

Philip  had  his  opportunity.  The  door  was 
opened  to  him.  The  conclusion  of  the  second 
verse  especially  gave  him  his  cue:  *'for  the 
transgression  of  My  people  was  He  stricken." 
No  other  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  so 
plainly  anticipates  the  unique  career  of  Jesus, 
which  worked  out  the  ideal  of  the  Messiah  in  a 
way  utterly  different  from  the  expectation  of 
the  ordinary  Jews.  Beginning  from  this  Scrip- 
ture he  expounded  to  the  Ethiopian  the  purpose 
and  the  results  of  Christ's  life  on  earth.  After 
a  time  they  came  to  a  water  by  the  way;  and 


The  Prophet  in  the  Wilderness       79 

there  Philip  baptized  the  Ethiopian  at  his  own 
request.    Then  they  parted. 

Philip  was  caught  away  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  turning  towards  the  north  by  the  old 
Philistine  city  of  Ashdod  (Azotus),  and 
preaching  in  all  the  towns  of  the  coast  lands  till 
he  came  to  Caesarea,  the  Roman  capital  of  Pal- 
estine. This  missionary  progress  probably 
occupied  a  considerable  time,  as  there  were 
many  towns  and  villages  in  this  fertile  region, 
and  Philip  would  be  likely  to  do  his  work 
thoroughly  in  each. 

In  Csesarea,  at  last,  he  settled  permanently  as 
head  of  the  Church  in  that  city.  There  Luke 
found  and  conversed  with  him  for  several  days, 
when  he,  with  the  rest  of  Paul's  companions, 
landed  at  Csesarea  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem  in 
A.D.  57.  There  afterwards  Luke  seems  to  have 
spent,  in  the  society  of  Philip  and  the  C?esarean 
Church,  the  two  years  that  Paul  was  detained 
by  the  procurator  Felix  in  prison.  There  he 
met  the  four  daughters  of  Philip,  who,  being 
prophetesses,  occupied  an  influential  position 
in  the  Church. 

In  the  Acts  few  persons  are  mentioned  unless 
they  were  of  real  historical  importance  or  con- 


8o     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

cerned  in  some  action  which  Luke  regarded  as 
of  critical  consequence.  So,  for  example  (as 
will  be  shown  more  fully  at  a  later  stage),  the 
minute  account  of  the  conduct  and  even  the 
emotions  of  the  slave-girl  Rhoda  in  12  :  13  ff. 
is  not,  as  some  might  hastily  think,  wasted  on 
trifling  personal  matters  that  do  not  concern 
the  growth  of  the  Church.  That  is  Luke's  way 
of  mentioning  his  authority  without  talking 
about  himself.  He  had  spoken  with  Rhoda  and 
had  heard  from  her  the  detailed  account  which 
he  has  translated  to  us;  and  he  intimates  thus 
that  he  had  first-rate  authority  for  the  account 
of  a  remarkable  scene. 

So  with  the  prophetesses.  Apparently  they 
play  no  part  in  this  history ;  but  Luke  knew  that 
they  did  play  a  part.  They  were  his  guarantee 
for  a  notable  episode  in  his  narrative,  and  a 
brief  consideration  of  this  will  throw  much 
light  on  his  method  of  gathering  information, 
and  will  show  on  what  trustworthy  evidence 
his  statements  rest. 

In  that  account  of  the  scene  on  the  road  to 
Gaza,  Philip  is  set  before  the  reader  like  one  of 
the  ancient  prophets  such  as  Elijah  or  Elisha. 
Every  step  that  he  takes  is  carefully  described 


The  Prophet  m  the  Wilderness       8 1 

as  suggested  by  Divine  command  or  inspira- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  the  Samarian  incident, 
in  spite  of  its  importance  in  the  growth  of  the 
Church,  is  not  said  to  have  been  suggested  by 
Divine  command.  In  Samaria  Phihp  appears 
only  as  a  subordinate  w^hose  action  had  to  be 
inspected  and  approved  by  the  superior  author- 
ity ;  but  in  the  wilderness  he  stands  forth  alone 
as  the  hero  of  the  occasion.  One  feels  that  the 
difference  of  tone  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
Samarian  incident  was  described  to  Luke  by 
Philip  himself,  with  a  modesty  and  self-sup- 
pression characteristic  of  his  personality.  He 
gave  the  credit  mainly  to  the  Apostles  as 
greater  than  himself.  He  would  not  glory  in 
the  revelations  made  to  him.  Similarly  Paul 
himself,  though  he  once  did  so,  apologizes  and 
explains  that  it  was  forced  upon  him  by  the 
attacks  to  which  he  had  been  exposed.* 

On  the  other  hand,  the  interview  with  the 
Ethiopian  is  described  by  an  admirer  of  Phil- 
ip's, who  also  was  in  Luke's  estimation  an 
excellent  authority.  The  picture  of  Philip  like 
a  Hebrew  prophet  suggests  that  this  authority 
was    one    or    all    of    Philip's    daughters,    the 

*  2  Corinthians  12  :  5  f . 


82      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

prophetesses,  who  were  informants  of  the  high- 
est trustworthiness.  Their  striking  and  pictur- 
esque account  of  the  incident  imprinted  itself 
on  his  memory,  and  is  reproduced  in  their 
Hebrew  prophetic  style. 

While  the  style  of  narrative  varies  in  the  two 
incidents,  the  practical  range  of  Philip's  action 
is  much  the  same.  The  daughters  picture  their 
father  with  loving  admiration,  but  they  do  not 
enhance  the  facts.  As  at  Samaria,  he  baptizes, 
but  he  is  not  said  to  convey  the  Spirit  to  his 
convert.  The  old  Hebrew  fervor  of  religious 
feeling  which  animated  the  prophetesses  saw 
the  hand  of  God  in  everything,  and  described 
in  symbolic  language  the  Divine  guidance  that 
was  given  to  Philip  at  every  step.  Philip  doubt- 
less was  not  less  conscious  of  the  Divine  aid  in 
all  his  work,  but  he  did  not  speak  so  openly 
about  it.  We  have  in  these  two  incidents  an  ex- 
ample of  different  points  of  view,  arising  from 
Luke's  reliance  on  different  authorities;  but 
each  part  of  the  narrative  makes  the  other  part 
more  distinct.  We  can  understand  how  the 
prophetesses  would  have  pictured  Philip  as  the 
prophet  of  God  pitted  against  the  false  prophet, 
and  how  Philip  might  have  told  that  he  ad- 


The  Prophet  in  the  Wilderness       Z^ 

dressed  the  Ethiopian  in  the  chariot;  and  we 
can  imagine  how  Hterary  sense  made  Luke  tell 
the  Samarian  events  in  Philip's  simple  words, 
but  prefer  the  prophetesses'  picture  of  the 
Ethiopian. 

The   latter  person   remains   an   enigmatical 
figure.     Was  he  a  Jew  by  blood,  born  in  Ethi- 
opia ?  or  was  he  an  Ethiopian  by  blood,  affected 
and  proselytized  by  Jewish  religious  influence  ? 
Discoveries   made   within   the   last   few  years 
show  that  in  the  fifth  century  b.  c.  there  was  a 
colony  of  Jews  settled  already  for  a  long  time 
on  the  south  frontier  of  Egypt  where  it  borders 
on  Ethiopia ;  and  the  spread  of  their  influence 
into  that  country  is  thus  shown  to  be  natural. 
Whatever  his  race,  the  Ethiopian,  as  a  eunuch, 
was   excluded  by  the  Jewish   Law   from   the 
assembly  of  the  Lord;  and  Philip's  action  is 
recorded   as   a  proof  that   no  man,   however 
maimed  or  humiliated,  was  excluded  from  the 
grace    of    the    Saviour.      The    Ethiopian    is 
nowhere  regarded  by  Luke  as  an  example  of 
the  admission  of  aliens  to  share  in  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Church,  any  more  than  Nicolas 
of  Antioch.   Proselytes  were  freely  accepted  as 
members  of  the  Church  from  the  beginning. 


XII 

THE  WORK  AND  POWER  OF  PETER 

Ads  g  :  32-43 

"Peter  went  through  all  parts."  Never  was 
a  big  piece  of  work  mentioned  in  words  so  few, 
yet  so  complete  and  comprehensive.  The 
former  mission  to  Samaria  was  now  widened 
to  embrace  the  whole  extent  of  the  growing 
Church ;  and  the  same  kind  of  work  which  took 
place  in  Samaria  must  undoubtedly  be  under- 
stood to  have  occurred  in  every  place  that  Paul 
visited.  His  action  was  not  restricted  to  the 
cities  as  Philip's  was  (8  :  40).  It  included 
the  villages  (8  :  25).  It  was  everywhere.  It 
extended  not  merely  to  Judea  and  Samaria  and 
Galilee  (9  :  31),  but  also  to  Antioch  (Gal.  2  : 
1 1 ) ,  to  Corinth  ( i  Cor.  1:2),  and,  as  we  may 
be  sure,  much  farther. 

This  is  the  work  of  years,  probably  of  a  life- 
time. It  marks  out  Peter  as  the  great  mission- 
ary among  the  older  Apostles.  It  shows  why  it 
84 


The  Work  and  Power  of  Peter       85 

was  part  of  Peter's  duty,  in  view  of  an  impend- 
ing persecution,  to  send  to  the  churches  of  Asia 
Minor  the  Epistle  known  as  i  Peter.  In  the 
prosecution  of  this  great  work  he  could  be  only 
seldom  in  Jerusalem ;  hence  the  leadership  of 
the  central  Church,  which  lay  with  him  in  the 
earliest  years,  necessarily  passed  to  other  hands ; 
and  in  later  years  James  appears  to  have  occu- 
pied the  most  prominent  position  in  that  Church 
(Acts  15  :  13,  19;  21  :  18;  Gal.  2:9). 

A  process  of  world-wide  extent  and  import- 
ance like  thi^  is  summed  up  in  five  words ;  and 
yet  such  is  the  art  and  historic  skill  of  the 
narrative  that  its  character  stands  out  clearly 
before  the  reader. 

Two  incidents  are  selected  from  an  early 
stage  of  this  process  as  illustrations  of  Peter's 
power.  In  Luke's  estimation  these  are  the  most 
important  acts  known  to  him  during  that  long 
missionary  career  of  Peter;  they  proved  his 
Divine  mission,  and  they  were  accepted  in  proof 
by  the  people  among  whom  they  were  per- 
formed. It  shows  how  different  is  the  spirit  of 
the  twentieth  century  from  that  of  the  first, 
that  what  was  then  considered  by  all  to  be  in- 
dispensable as  a  proof  of  truth  now  constitutes 


S6     Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

a  difficulty  to  prevent  more  general  acceptance 
of  truth.  Both  the  incidents  are  deeds  of  com- 
passion and  healing,  similar  to  the  acts  recorded 
of  Jesus  in  the  Gospels,  and  have  no  resem- 
blance to  the  acts  of  judgment  and  punishment 
which  sometimes  occur  in  Luke's  history. 

The  first  incident  occurred  at  Lydda,  a  large 
village  on  the  high  road  from  Jerusalem  to 
C?esarea  and  to  Joppa.  In  this  situation  it  must 
naturally  have  been  one  of  the  first  places  to 
hear  the  gospel  from  the  lips  of  travelers,  and 
Peter  found  there  a  congregation  of  the  saints. 
Among  these  was  probably  Mnason,  the  ancient 
disciple  in  whose  house  Paul,  Luke,  and  their 
company  lodged  (according  to  the  right  inter- 
pretation) on  their  way  from  Csesarea  to  Jeru- 
salem; and  on  our  view  the  mention  of  his 
name  and  early  conversion  is  probably  intended 
to  signalize  one  of  the  informants  from  whom 
Luke  derived  his  knowledge  of  this  incident. 
\\\  Lydda  ^neas,  who  had  been  palsied  and 
bedridden  for  eight  years,  was  ordered  by 
Peter  to  rise,  "for  Jesus  Christ  healeth  thee." 
There  is  no  allusion  here  to  faith  on  the  part  of 
^neas,  except  that  he  forthwith  obeyed  the 
command.     Nor  is  it  stated  whether  he  was 


The  Work  and  Power  of  Peter       87 

Christian  or  Jew  or  Greek.  Attention  is  con- 
centrated on  the  power  of  Peter;  and  all  else 
has  passed  out  of  memory.  There  is  not  the 
same  detail  or  vividness  here  as  in  the  account 
of  the  lame  man  at  the  gate  of  the  temple  (3  : 
2ff.).  Luke's  informant  was  so  deeply  pene- 
trated with  admiration  for  Peter  that  his  nar- 
rative loses  touch  with  the  surroundings.  But 
the  incident  produced  a  strong  efifect  on  the 
population  of  Sharon,  the  low  ground  between 
the  mountains  of  Judea  and  the  sea,  at  the 
eastern  edge  of  which  Lydda  was  situated ;  and 
thus  it  was  remembered. 

The  other  incident  occurred  at  the  sea-port  of 
Joppa,  the  modern  Jaffa,  about  ten  miles  north- 
w^est  of  Lydda.  A  widow  called  by  the  Ara- 
maic name  of  Tabitha  (i.  e.,  Gazelle,  in  Greek 
Dorcas),  had  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  char- 
ities of  the  Church  at  Joppa;  and  it  may  be 
gathered  from  this  case  that  there  was  an  or- 
ganization of  charity  at  Lydda  similar  to  that 
described  already  at  Jerusalem,  and  that  the 
work  of  voluntary  helpers  was  carried  on  in  a 
systematic  way;  though  no  record  is  preserved 
as  to  the  official  administration  in  those  early 
churches  of  Palestine. 


88      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Tabitha  died  and  was  prepared  for  her 
grave :  the  body  was  washed  and  laid  out  ready 
for  burial.  It  was  known  that  Peter  was  not 
far  distant,  and  messengers  were  sent  to  Lydda 
begging  him  to  come.  Now  the  ordinary  Jew- 
ish custom  was  that  the  burial  should  take  place 
very  quickly  after  death.  As  a  rule,  at  the 
present  day,  only  a  few  hours  elapse  in  those 
regions  between  death  and  burial :  the  washing 
and  preparing  of  the  corpse,  the  vehement 
mourning  of  the  women,  and  the  funeral,  are 
performed  with  a  celerity  that  is  repugnant  to 
our  Western  minds.  In  this  case  it  is  not  made 
clear  why  time  was  allowed  to  send  and  bring 
Peter.  Possibly,  he  may  have  been  asked  to 
come  when  Tabitha  was  sick,  in  the  hope  that 
he  might  cure  her  as  he  had  cured  ^neas ;  and 
he  arrived  only  when  she  was  laid  out  for 
burial.  Possibly,  the  burial  was  delayed  from 
the  desire  to  do  special  honor  to  the  deceased  by 
having  a  great  Church  dignitary  present  (a 
desire  which  is  at  the  present  day  always  strong 
among  the  people  of  the  Eastern  Church),  or  in 
the  vague  hope  that  Peter  might  be  able  to 
do  something  and  give  some  aid  in  the  great 
calamity  which  had  befallen  the  congregation 


The  Work  and  Power  of  Peter       89 

at  Joppa.  The  record  is  silent  about  these 
details.  There  is  no  hint  as  to  the  motives 
of  the  senders,  the  action  of  the  messengers, 
the  reasons  stated  to  Peter,  or  the  resolution 
that  he  formed  to  bring  his  abode  and  work 
in  Lydda  to  an  end.  But  the  scene  is  put 
vividly  before  us  when  he  reached  Joppa, 
as  he  looked  on  the  dead,  and  the  widows 
stood  by  weeping  and  showing  the  clothes 
that  Dorcas  had  made  in  her  charitable 
work;  and  this  scene  perhaps  tends  to  favor  the 
last  hypothesis  stated  about  the  reason  for  sum- 
moning Peter.  In  this  incident,  as  in  the  cure 
of  ^neas,  attention  is  concentrated  on  the 
power  of  Peter,  and  only  what  sets  him  in 
strong  relief  is  remembered. 

Faith  is  not  mentioned  by  Luke  as  playing 
any  part  in  this  incident ;  but  it  may  be  under- 
stood that  Peter  here,  as  in  3  :  6,  spoke  "in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,"  and 
that  he  would  have  said,  as  in  3  :  12,  that  it 
was  not  "by  our  own  power  or  godliness"  that 
this  thing  had  happened,  but  that  "by  faith  in 
His  name  hath  His  name"  restored  Tabitha  to 
health.  In  the  same  fashion  he  said  to  ^neas, 
"Jesus  healeth  thee."    On  the  other  hand,  there 


90      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

could  be  no  faith  on  the  part  of  the  dead  Tabi- 
tha  co-operating  with  the  power  of  the  Apostle, 
as  there  was  in  the  case  of  the  lame  men  in 
3  and  in  14.  The  narrator  on  whom  Luke 
relied  was  wholly  preoccupied  with  the  thought 
of  Peter's  power;  and  this  favors  the  opinion 
stated  above,  that  he  was  one  of  those  who 
had  seen  and  been  overwhelmingly  impressed 
by  the  event.  The  description  of  the  scene 
when  Peter  arrived  at  the  house  strongly  sug- 
gests the  account  of  an  eye-witness  before 
whose  memory  the  visible  details  stood  out 
clearly. 

This  narrative  remains  unique  and  unparal- 
leled in  the  book,  and  yet  it  is  the  story  told  to 
Luke  by  one  who  saw  and  believed  that  Tabi- 
tha  had  died  and  lived  again.  The  allusion  to 
the  widows  showing  the  garments  which 
Dorcas  had  made  brings  us  in  contact  with  the 
facts  of  early  Church  life.  Here  we  find  the 
germ  of  the  Order  of  Widows,  which  is  men- 
tioned by  Paul  in  i  Timothy  5  :  9  f.,  and 
which  became  very  important  in  the  following 
years.  They  devoted  themselves  to  charity 
and  good  works  in  the  congregation. 


XIII 

THE  CAUSE  AND  MANNER  OF  THE  GROWTH 
OF  THE   CHURCH 

Review  :  Acts  i-g 

In  the  opening  verses  of  the  Acts  the  guid- 
ing idea  of  the  book  is  clearly  indicated.  As 
the  first  book  of  Luke's  history  had  shown  the 
Divine  Power  made  manifest  among  men  in 
the  man  Jesus,  *'all  that  He  began  both  to  do 
and  to  teach,"  so  the  continuation  of  the  his- 
tory will  show  the  continuous  influence  of  the 
Divine  Power,  when  no  longer  visible  to  the 
senses,  but  only  manifested  in  its  effects. 

The  central  idea  throughout  the  book  is  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  comes  to  re- 
side in  the  hearts  of  such  men  as  are  fitted  (i.e., 
are  eagerly  desirous)  to  receive  it;  the  Spirit 
initiates  and  conducts  to  a  successful  issue  all 
the  action  described  in  the  book,  moulds  the 
Church,  dictates  the  instructions  which  the 
Church  issues  to  its  converts  (15  :  28),  and 
makes  the  Church  expand  as  a  living  organiza- 

91 


92      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tion  over  ''all  Judea  and  Samaria  and  unto  the 
uttermost  part  of  the  earth." 

Incidentally,  we  observe  that  the  history  does 
not  reach  its  limits  in  the  Acts.  It  has  not  at 
the  present  day  reached  its  limits;  but  it  con- 
tinues ''always  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
Whether  the  writing  of  Luke  had  reached  the 
limit  which  he  contemplated  is  a  matter  of 
doubt.  Luke  carries  it  down  to  the  time  when 
the  new  Faith  was  fixing  itself  firmly  in  Rome. 
Did  Luke  intend  to  stop  there?  The  question 
has  often  been  asked.  We  would  answer  in 
the  negative. 

The  growth  of  the  Church  through  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  one  main  topic  and 
guiding  interest  of  the  author.  This  increasing 
strength  is  measured  at  first  by  numerical  esti- 
mates, so  long  as  numbers  could  be  reckoned ; 
one  hundred  and  twenty  in  i  :  15,  three  thou- 
sand in  2  :  41,  five  thousand  in  4  :  4.  There- 
after the  complexity  of  the  Church,  and  its 
extension  over  many  synagogues  and  groups, 
prevented  statements  of  that  kind.  No  one 
could  any  longer  survey  the  Church  as  a  whole ; 
numerical  estimates  were  impossible;  and  the 
Apostles    needed    a    supplementary    body    of 


The  Growth  of  the  Church  93 

Seven  Officials  to  acquire  the  knowledge  of 
individual  needs  which  was  required  for  the 
fair  distribution  of  charity. 

In  the  following  stages  the  steps  by  which 
the  Church  was  spread  over  the  world  are 
stated  geographically.  Samaria  was  included, 
then  the  maritime  plain,  and  Galilee,  Damascus, 
Phoenicia,  Antioch,  and  on  to  the  West.  But 
those  steps  were  not  made  by  deliberate  pur- 
pose and  plan  of  the  Church  and  its  officials. 
The  scattering  of  the  Christians  in  the  great 
persecution  produced  the  first  advance  beyond 
Jerusalem  and  its  neighborhood.  The  Spirit 
ordered  both  the  journey  of  Barnabas  and 
Saul  to  the  West,  and  the  journey  of  Philip 
to  the  southern  wilderness  and  afterwards  to 
Ashdod  and  the  cities  near  the  sea.  Only  in 
the  first  action  taken  by  Philip  in  Samaria  does 
an  official  of  the  Church  make  an  important 
advance  which  is  not  expressly  attributed  to 
the  action  of  the  Spirit,  and  in  this  exceptional 
case  we  see  the  effect  of  Philip's  own  modesty 
which  prevented  him  from  claiming  to  have 
been  honored  with  a  direct  revelation  of  the 
Divine  will. 

The  growth  of  organization  in  the  Church 


94      Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

was  also  a  matter  to  which  Luke  devotes  spe- 
cial attention.  The  first  public  act  of  the 
Church  after  the  Ascension  was  to  fill  up  the 
vacancy  among  the  Apostles,  and  in  the  record 
of  the  proceedings  the  words  bishopric,  diacon- 
ate  (twice),  and  Apostleship  are  used  as  equiv- 
alent terms.  Considering  that  the  officials  in 
the  Philippian  Church  (with  which  Luke  was 
closely  connected)  were  bishops  and  deacons, 
Philippians  i  :  i,  we  must  understand  that  it 
was  a  matter  of  interest  to  him  to  trace  the  de- 
velopment of  these  offices  in  the  Western 
Churches  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  place  of 
the  Apostolate  in  Jerusalem.  He  describes 
with  marked  care  the  first  step  in  the  widening 
of  the  organization, — the  appointment  of  the 
Seven,  and  shows  how  it  arose  out  of  the  need 
and  desire  for  efficient  performance  of  the  prac- 
tical work  of  the  Church.  Good  administra- 
tion was  necessary  to  make  an  efficient  Church ; 
the  method  adopted  was  a  human  device,  not 
a  Divine  unchanging  ordinance,  for  we  never 
hear  that  this  institution  of  the  Seven  was  re- 
peated elsewhere ;  but  improved  administration 
quickened  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Church. 
Two  other  classes  of  members  of  the  Church 


The  Growth  of  the  Church  95 

at  Jerusalem  are  mentioned,  the  young  men 
(more  accurately  translated,  the  men  of  active 
^§'^)j  5  :  6»  10,  2ind  the  elders,  15  :  4j  seem- 
ingly not  officials,  but  the  result  of  a  rough 
classification  according  to  age  and  authority. 
Where  the  brethren  are  mentioned  as  doing 
any  serious  business,  one  may  understand  that 
the  elder  brethren  were  most  prominent. 
Where  active  bodily  work  was  in  question,  the 
younger  would  naturally  come  forward.  Then 
in  the  congregation  at  Joppa  we  observe  the 
germ  of  an  Order  of  Widows,  devoted  to 
Church  work,  after  their  duties  in  their  own 
families  had  ceased  to  engross  their  attention. 
Being  dependent  on  the  oral  tradition  which 
he  heard  in  Palestine,  Luke  in  the  early  chap- 
ters has  no  exact  statements  of  time  (such  as 
he  often  gives  in  his  last  chapters,  where  he 
writes  as  an  eye-witness  and  contemporary), 
and  he  first  alludes  to  contemporary  events  of 
general  history  in  11  :  28  and  12  :  20-23.  But 
by  comparison  with  Paul's  statements  of  years 
in  Galatians  i  :  18,  2,  we  gather  that  the-  in- 
tervals between  the  events  mentioned  in  the 
first  eight  chapters  of  the  Acts  were  short.  The 
conversion  of  Paul  probably  occurred  in  Jan- 


96      Pictures  of  the  Apostotic  Church 

uary,  a.d.  ^i^^  rather  less  than  three  years 
after  the  Crucifixion.  A  certain  interval  had 
then  elapsed  since  the  death  of  Stephen,  during; 
which  persecution  raged  in  Jerusalem,  and  the 
Christian  fugitives  had  time  to  settle  in  Da- 
mascus, and  news  about  them  to  reach  Jeru- 
salem. Stephen's  death  fell  probably  in  au- 
tumn 31,  and  the  appointment  of  the  Seven 
in  late  spring  31,  before  the  harvest  began, 
when  the  stock  of  corn  was  low,  prices  were 
high,  and  the  poor  felt  the  pinch  of  poverty, 
and  those  who  thought  themselves  neglected 
were  most  likely  to  be  complaining.  The  events 
described  in  chapters  i  to  5  arrange  them- 
selves between  spring  29  and  31.  Philip's  mis- 
sion began  in  the  winter  of  31-32  and  prob- 
ably several  years  elapsed  before  he  settled  in 
Caesarea.  The  progress  of  Peter  ''through  all 
parts,"  evidently  began  after  Paul's  first  visit 
to  Jerusalem  some  time  in  34;  and  he  was  in 
Jerusalem  temporarily  when  Paul  came  there 
for  the  second  time  in  45,  the  fourteenth  year 
after  his  conversion. 

*  We  see  no  reason  to  doubt  the  tradition  that  it  oc- 
curred on  25th  January.  The  day  was  likely  to  be  re- 
membered in  the  Church, 


The  Growth  of  the  Church  97 

The  date  of  Stephen's  death  is  important. 
It  shows  how  rapid  was  the  development  of 
the  Church  from  the  beginning.  After  the  in- 
spiration of  Pentecost,  we  have  a  series  of 
steps  made  at  short  intervals  through  the  guid- 
ance of  the  indwelling  Spirit  to  meet  the  ex- 
ternal conditions.  The  Church  was  not  in- 
active for  a  day  after  the  coming  of  the  Spirit 
at  Pentecost.  It  was  constantly  exerting  itself 
both  in  external  growth  through  the  preaching 
of  the  Word,  and  in  internal  development 
through  the  miprovement  of  its  administration 
and  the  organization  of  charity. 

So  Luke's  history,  when  rightly  understood, 
is  fatal  to  that  modern  theory  which  regards 
the  early  Christians  as  simply  waiting  in  ex- 
pectation of  the  immediate  coming  of  Christ 
to  reign  upon  the  earth.  Their  confidence  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God  roused  them  to  strenuous  ac- 
tivity and  preparation.  Every  one  was  at 
work,  each  in  his  own  way:  Peter  the  leader, 
yet  always  ready  to  learn  from  the  bolder  ini- 
tiative of  others  like  Stephen  and  Philip.  Each 
attempt  to  muzzle  or  suppress  the  new  Faith 
only  resulted  in  increasing  the  energy  and 
widening  the  range  of  missionary  effort. 


XIV 

THE  UNIVERSAL  GOSPEL 

Ac/s  lo  :  I  to  II  :  i8 

The  story  of  Cornelius  is  so  crowded  with 
interest  that  only  a  tithe  of  the  points  that  rise 
in  it  can  be  touched  upon;  and  it  is  better  to 
speak  more  fully  about  a  very  few  than  to 
enumerate  a  larger  proportion  of  the  whole. 

I.  The  importance  of  the  episode  in  its  bear- 
ing on  the  history  of  the  young  Church  is 
shown  by  the  space  devoted  to  it.  Luke  always 
selects  and  groups  his  topics  with  great  care 
and  skill.  Out  of  many  things  which  he  had 
seen  and  heard,  he  selects  only  a  few;  and  he 
dwells  upon  these  proportionately  to  the  im- 
portance of  each  for  his  purpose  as  a  his- 
torian. The  story  of  Cornelius  is  not  merely 
described  at  much  greater  length  than  any  pre- 
ceding incident.  The  important  parts  of  the 
story  are  narrated  twice,  or  oftener  :  Peter's 
vision  lo  :  11-16,  11  :  5-10),  Cornelius's  vis- 
ion (10  :  3-6,  22,  30-32,  II  :  13  f.),  and 
98 


The  Universal  Gospel  99 

several  other  details  similarly.  There  is  one 
striking  parallel  to  this;  the  conversion  of 
Paul  is  described  three  times  in  the  book.  The 
reiteration  emphasizes  the  importance  of  each 
event. 

2.  The  purpose  of  Peter's  vision  was  not  to 
intimate  that  God  had  abolished  the  distinction 
between  food  that  was  clean  and  permitted, 
and  food  that  was  unclean  and  forbidden. 
This  distinction  was  founded  on  sound  sani- 
tary principles,  suited  to  the  climate.  There  is 
no  reason  to  think  that  any  intention  is  implied 
in  10  :  14  f.  to  permit  or  order  the  Jews  to 
eat  creeping  things.  No  one  can  well  doubt 
that  Peter  continued  as  before  to  refrain  from 
eating  forbidden  food.  It  may,  however,  rea- 
sonably be  thought  that  the  distinction  was  to 
be  regarded  henceforth,  not  as  a  mere  ritual- 
istic law,  but  as  a  rational  principle  based  on 
sanitary  considerations,  and  liable  to  vary  in 
details  according  to  climate.  Peter's  own 
interpretation  of  the  vision  was  stated  by  him 
to  Cornelius  and  his  friends,  "Unto  me  hath 
God  shewed  that  I  should  not  call  any  man 
common  or  unclean."  The  reference  is  here 
explicit;  Peter  understood  that  the  vision  was 


lOO   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

symbolic  of  human  nature,  and  meant  that  all 
men  were  or  could  be  cleansed  by  God. 

Moreover,  Peter  recounted  to  the  straitest 
Jewish  Christians  in  Jerusalem  his  vision  and 
his  consequent  action;  and  they  were  all  con- 
vinced and  glorified  God,  not  because  He  had 
abrogated  the  distinction  of  foods,  but  because 
"to  the  Gentiles  also  hath  He  granted  repent- 
ance unto  life." 

This  vision  is  a  typical  example  of  the  sym- 
bolic or  emblematic  way  of  expressing  spiritual 
truth,  which  is  characteristic  of  Semitic  and  es- 
pecially of  Biblical  expression.  When  Peter 
called  the  creeping  things  and  quadrupeds  and 
fowls  "common  and  unclean,"  and  was  rebuked 
in  the  words :  "what  God  hath  cleansed,  make 
not  thou  common,"  the  person  who  insists  on 
the  literal  interpretation  about  food  misses  the 
vast  spiritual  force,  and  also  tramples  on  a 
sound  principle  of  health  in  those  southern 
lands.  Christianity  did  not  do  away  Avith  what 
was  healthy  and  good  in  Judaism,  but  com- 
pleted what  was  defective  and  gave  life  to  what 
was  fossilized  in  it.  The  Jewish  Christians 
saw  the  meaning  of  the  vision  at  the  moment 
in  a  vague  way,  though  they  did  not  compre- 


The  Universal  Gospel  loi 

hend  all  its  broad  significance.  Paul  had  to 
work  for  years  before  the  principle  stated  in 
this  vision  was  fully  recognized  by  the  Church 
as  a  whole,  though  the  leaders  accepted  it  more 
quickly  than  the  mass  of  the  Jewish  Christians. 
3.  The  meaning  of  Peter's  vision  was  de- 
clared in  the  immediate  result.  He  acted  with- 
out hesitation  on  the  invitation  of  a  foreigner, 
a  Roman  officer,  one  of  the  army  that  held 
down  the  Jewish  nation.  He  entered  into  his 
house  and  into  familiar  intercourse  with  him. 
He  even  ate  with  him.  To  hold  conversation 
with  an  unclean  foreigner,  and  even  to  enter 
into  his  house  might  be  allowed  to  Jews;  the 
six  Jews  of  the  circumcision  who  accompanied 
Peter  did  that.  But  Peter  did  more  than  Jew- 
ish custom  permitted;  and  it  is  not  stated  that 
the  six  did  as  much;  the  general  drift  of  chap- 
ter 1 1  suggests  that  they  did  not  eat  with  Cor- 
nelius, for  the  charge  of  having  done  so  is 
made  against  Peter  alone.  The  issue  of  the 
incident  was  the  recognition  by  the  Church 
that  repentance,  baptism,  and  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  were  granted  to  the  Gentiles  also ; 
but,  though  this  was  acknowledged  to  be  the 
case   with   Cornelius,   yet   there   was   a   wide- 


I02    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

spread  disinclination  in  Jerusalem  to  regard 
the  principle  as  universal.  Doubtless,  it  was 
pointed  out  by  the  Judaistic  party  in  the  Church 
of  Jerusalem  and  Palestine  generally,  that  Cor- 
nelius was  a  person  who  had  previously  at- 
tached himself  to  the  Jewish  religion,  for  he 
^'feared  God  with  all  his  house,  and  gave  much 
alms  to  the  [Jewish]  people  and  prayed  to 
God  alway,"  though  he  had  never  become  fully 
a  proselyte  or  complied  with  the  whole  Jewish 
Law.  It  seems  therefore  to  have  been  still  the 
prevalent  view  of  the  Jewish  Christians  in  Je- 
rusalem that  foreigners  should  come  into  the 
Church  in  the  same  way  as  Cornelius ;  and  ap- 
parently the  expectation  was  entertained  that, 
considering  the  close  relation  of  Christianity  to 
Judaism,  the  Gentile  converts  would  accept  the 
Jewish  Law  as  binding  on  them,  and  live  ac- 
cording to  the  double  Law  of  Moses  and  of 
Christ  (like  the  priests  in  6  :  7). 

4.  The  vision  of  Cornelius  is  described  in 
slightly  varying  terms:  in  10  :  3  ''he  saw  in  a 
vision  openly  a  messenger  of  God  coming  in 
unto  him  and  saying";  in  10  :  22  "he  was 
warned  by  a  holy  messenger" ;  in  10  :  30  "a 
man  stood  before  me  in  bright  apparel  and 


The  Universal  Gospel  103 

said";  in  11  :  13  'iie  had  seen  the  messenger 
standing  in  his  house."  Here,  as  always,  such 
slight  divergences  are  mere  matters  of  ex- 
pression, varying  attempts  to  put  into  inade- 
quate human  words  the  real  Divine  truth, 
which  is  above  human  language  and  beyond 
ordinary  human  thought. 

5.  Both  visions  are  concerned  with  matters 
which  must  have  been  much  in  the  minds  of 
the  two  recipients  at  that  time.  On  the  one 
hand  the  relation  of  the  new  Church  to  the 
outer  world  must  necessarily  have  been  pre- 
senting itself  to  Peter.  He  could  not  have 
forgotten  that  the  orders  of  Jesus  were  of 
universal  application.  The  whole  world  was 
to  be  the  measure  of  the  Church.  Although  in 
Jerusalem  the  problem  was  less  pressing,  yet 
as  soon  as  Peter  and  Philip  went  out  of  the 
holy  city,  the  question  forced  itself  on  them 
how  they  should  treat  the  Gentiles,  who  were 
numerous  in  the  sea-plain  of  Sharon,  in  Joppa, 
Ashdod,  Lydda,  and  Csesarea.  The  Divine 
Will  here  revealed  itself  to  a  man  who  was 
eager  to  find  it,  thinking  of  it,  seeking  after  it, 
and  praying  for  it.  On  the  other  hand,  Cor- 
nelius was  in  a  similar  position.    He  was  seek- 


I04    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ing  to  attain  unto  the  light:  his  prayers  were 
"gone  up  as  a  memorial  before  God."  Philip 
was  already  in  Csesarea  (8  :  40) ;  and  in  all 
probability  Cornelius  knew  what  he  was  de- 
claring and  perhaps  had  heard  them.  The  vis- 
ion of  Cornelius  was  the  answer  to  his  prayer, 
and  the  solution  of  questions  over  which  he 
had  been  pondering. 

6.  It  is  characteristic  of  Philip  to  be  silent 
about  his  own  share  and  to  give  all  the  credit 
to  Peter.  Similarly,  at  Samaria  not  a  word  is 
said  about  Philip's  action  after  Peter  appears 
on  the  scene.  It  is  precisely  the  silence  about 
Philip  in  this  scene  at  Caesarea,  where  Peter 
could  hardly  fail  to  come  into  relations  with 
him  during  his  stay,  that  shows  his  mind  and 
his  self-suppression.  Philip,  therefore,  was 
Luke's  authority  for  the  Caesarean  incident. 
No  other  informant  except  Philip  would  have 
left  out  Philip.  It  is  equally  evident  that  Philip 
was  not  his  authority  for  the  sequel  at  Jeru- 
salem in  chapter  11.  There  is  no  reason  to 
think  that  Philip  went  to  Jerusalem  with  Peter. 


XV 

A  MESSENGER  OF  THE  LORD 
Acfs  12  :  J -2 4 

A  persecution  of  a  new  kind  is  described  in 
this  chapter.  Previously,  persecution  had  been 
caused  by  Jewish  disHke  of  innovation  and  of 
seeming  disrespect  to  the  Mosaic  Law  ;  but  now 
the  persecutor  was  King  Herod  Agrippa  I, 
who  reigned  from  a.d.  41  to  44.  No  cause  is 
stated  for  his  action;  but  the  narrative  sug- 
gests that  it  originated  in  personal  or  dynastic 
motives,  and  was  continued  because  Herod 
found  that  his  first  act,  the  execution  of 
James,  was  popular  among  the  Jews  in  Jeru- 
salem, whose  favor  he  was  bent  on  gaining. 
The  reason  for  his  first  act  probably  was  that 
he  regarded  the  preaching  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  as  indicating  disaffection  towards  his 
own  kingship  and  danger  to  his  dynasty. 

The  Pharisees  and  those  who  were  zealous 
for  the  Jewish  Law  had  been  estranged  from 
their  previous  friendliness  to  the  new  Faith  by 

105 


io6    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

the  outspoken  preaching  of  Stephen;  and  they 
were  glad  to  find  a  champion  of  their  cause  in 
the  King,  who  now  proceeded  to  imprison 
Peter.  But,  while  the  mass  of  the  Jews  were 
hostile,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  in 
all  ranks  of  Jewish  society  there  were  persons 
well  disposed  to  the  new  Faith.  Formerly, 
Jesus  had  devoted  friends  at  the  court  of  Herod 
Antipas,  such  as  Joanna  the  wife  of  the  King's 
steward,  and  Manaen  the  King's  foster- 
brother;  and  so  now  it  is  probable  that  there 
were  in  the  court  of  Herod  Agrippa  friends 
ready  to  help  Peter  secretly,  but  not  willing  to 
sacrifice  their  career  and  openly  profess  the 
new  Faith.  In  the  following  centuries  of  dan- 
ger and  suffering  the  Christians  were  often  in- 
debted to  the  kindness  of  persons  of  that  class. 
The  situation  in  Jerusalem  was  critical.  The 
Church  was  dismayed  at  the  blow  which  threat- 
ened its  leading  spirit;  and  ''prayer  was  made 
earnestly  for  him."  Then  follows  the  detailed 
and  remarkable  account  of  Peter's  deliverance. 
Ultimately,  he  was  himself  the  authority,  as 
no  other  knew  the  facts  and  his  own  feelings 
and  soliloquy,  until  he  related  them  to  a  com- 
pany of  the  Christians.    From  one,  or  probably 


A  Messenger  of  the  Lord  107 

from  several,  of  those  who  Hstened  on  that 
night  to  Peter,  as  he  told  the  story  within  a 
few  minutes  after  his  deliverance,  Luke  heard 
what  had  occurred;  and  we  may  be  confident 
that  it  is  recorded  precisely  as  Peter  de- 
scribed it. 

Peter  was  arrested  during  the  days  of  Un- 
leavened Bread,  and  his  execution  was  post- 
poned by  the  piety  of  Herod  until  the  feast 
was  ended;  but  he  was  guarded  with  the  ut- 
most care.  Two  soldiers  were  always  in  the 
cell  with  him,  and  his  hands  were  fastened  by 
two  chains  to  his  keepers,^  while  other  two 
sentinels  stood  on  guard  outside  the  door.  The 
duty  of  watching  Peter  was  assigned  to  six- 
teen soldiers,  four  of  whom  took  the  duty  in 
turn,  three  hours  at  a  time.  On  the  night  fol- 
lowing the  last  day  of  the  feast,  and  on  the 
eve  of  his  execution,  the  prisoner  was  awak- 
ened from  sleep  by  a  blow  on  his  side:  "a 
messenger  of  the  Lord  stood  by  him,  and  a 
light  shined  in  the  cell."  Of  what  nature  the 
messenger  of  God  was,  whether  a  man  (as  in 
10  :  3  compared  with  30)  or  not,  whether  the 

*His  left  hand  was  chained  to  one  soldier,  his  right 
to  the  other. 


v^ 


io8   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

guards  were  asleep,  what  were  the  exact  cir- 
cumstances of  the  release,  we  are  left  to  con- 
jecture, and  it  is  evident  that  Peter  did  not 
explain  to  his  hearers.  The  important  matter 
was  that  a  messenger  of  God  had  given  effect 
to  the  Divine  Will,  and  conducted  the  prisoner 
safely  through  all  the  guards  to  the  outer  gate 
(which  opened  to  them  of  its  own  accord),  and 
along  one  street,  before  leaving  him. 

Peter,  who  had  been  wakened  suddenly  out 
of  a  deep  sleep,  did  not  himself  realize  what 
was  taking  place.  He  thought  that  it  was  all 
a  dream,  and  *Svist  not  that  it  was  true  which 
was  done  by  the  angel"  (i.e.  messenger).  The 
description  of  the  situation  and  of  his  thoughts 
is  marvelously  graphic  and  lifelike.  As  we 
read  it,  we  feel  ourselves  in  the  porch  of 
Mary's  house,  listening  to  his  eager,  hurried 
narrative,  and  especially  his  reflections,  when 
the  angel  left  him,  and  he  ''was  come  to  him- 
self." Previously  he  had  been  only  half  awake 
and  acting  mechanically,  but  then  he  "knew  of 
a  truth  that  the  Lord  had  sent  forth  His  mes- 
senger, and  delivered  him  out  of  the  hand  of 
Herod,  and  from  all  the  expectation  of  the 
people  of  the  Jews." 


A  Messenger  of  the  Lord  109 

When  Peter  thought  over  his  position,  one 
street  away  from  the  prison  and  therefore  still 
in  imminent  danger,  he  went  to  the  house  of 
Mary,  a  near  relative  of  Barnabas  and  like  him 
probably  possessing  some  wealth,  evidently  a 
widow  whose  house  was  a  customary  meeting- 
place  for  the  Christians.  Peter  was  a  friend 
of  the  family,  and  the  slave-girl  Rhoda,  who 
answered  his  knock,  instantly  recognized  his 
voice.  The  whole  household  and  many  others 
had  assembled  and  were  praying  for  Peter's 
safety  at  the  very  moment  of  his  deliverance. 
The  slave-girl  shared  the  troubles  and  happi- 
ness of  the  family^ ;  and  now,  excited  with  joy 
and  losing  all  sense  of  her  immediate  duty,  she 
left  Peter  outside  in  danger,  while  she  ran  in 
to  relieve  the  anxiety  of  the  household.  Here 
another  singularly  vivid  and  charming  picture 
is  set  before  us  ;  Peter  knocking  repeatedly  out- 
side; Rhoda  delivering  her  glad  news  in  flut- 
tering joy;  the  people  incredulous  and  calling 
her  mad  to  say  that  Peter  was  there;  Rhoda 
triumphing  over  their  folly  and  persisting  in 

*  Domestic  slaves  were  at  that  time  treated  generally 
as  humble  members  of  the  family  even  in  pagan,  much 
more  in  Christian,  households. 


no   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

her  statement;  the  insistent  knocking  at  the 
door;  the  amazement  of  all,  when  they  went 
out  and  beheld  the  escaped  prisoner;  Peter 
calming  the  excited  throng  with  a  motion  of 
his  hand,  telling  his  story,  sending  a  message 
to  James  (evidently  now  the  recognized  head 
of  the  Church),  and  going  away  to  an  un- 
known destination. 

This  incident  was  evidently  described  to 
Luke  by  an  eye-witness.  Only  one  who  was 
present  could  have  pictured  it  so  vividly.  We 
can  understand  that  many  who  were  in  Mary's 
house  that  night  would  remember  Peter's  nar- 
rative, his  words,  feelings,  and  thoughts,  for 
all  would  regard  him  with  the  keenest  interest. 
But  who  would  remember  the  emotions  and  de- 
meanor of  the  slave-girl  except  herself?  Luke, 
however,  had  seen  her,  talked  to  her,  heard 
her  account  of  the  scene,  and  with  the  skill  of 
a  literary  artist  perceived  that  it  was  more  ef- 
fective and  revealed  better  the  inmost  charac- 
ter of  the  situation  than  the  narrative  of  any 
other  member  of  the  Church  whom  he  met  in 
Jerusalem.  Nowhere  in  the  whole  of  this  his- 
tory is  the  authority  whom  Luke  followed  so 
clearly  shown  as  here;  and  nowhere  is  there 


A  Messenger  of  the  Lord  1 1 1 

so  beautiful  a  picture  of  life  in  the  early 
Church,  with  its  house-meetings  and  its  fa- 
miliar intercourse  between  all  classes. 

Peter  concealed  his  destination  from  Mary 
and  her  household  and  friends.  Probably  he 
wished  them  to  be  able  to  deny  all  knowledge 
where  he  had  gone,  in  case  his  communication 
with  them  should  be  detected,  and  they  should 
be  arrested  and  questioned. 

To  us  in  modern  time  the  question  appears 
of  supreme  moment  whether  this  deliverance 
was  accomplished  by  supernatural  or  by  nat- 
ural means.  To  the  hearers  on  that  night  the 
question  was  of  no  importance,  and  does  not 
seem  to  have  suggested  itself.  To  the  Oriental 
mind  the  natural  and  the  supernatural  are  one : 
any  person  who  carried  into  effect  the  purpose 
of  God  to  save  His  servant  was  His  messenger. 
Is  not  the  Oriental  view  the  truer  one?  The 
trivial  things  that  scholars  often  discuss  and 
dispute  about  are  not  even  mentioned  by  Peter  ; 
but  the  important  things  are  there,  the  need  of 
the  Church,  the  earnest  prayers  of  the  people, 
and  the  help  sent  by  God. 

Is  it  wise  or  right  for  any  of  us  to  dispute 
who  or  what  was  the  messenger  of  God  on  this 


112    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

occasion,  and  to  declare  that  he  who  differs 
from  our  opinion  is  either  on  the  one  hand 
sceptical  or  on  the  other  hand  irrational  ?  This 
narrative  is  a  test  case.  It  comes  to  us  almost 
in  Peter's  own  words,  spoken  within  an  hour 
after  the  event,  and  reported  by  a  devoted  mind 
that  treasured  every  word.  No  better  author- 
ity could  be  imagined  except  a  letter  of  Peter 
describing  the  event ;  and  this  report  is  almost 
as  good  as  a  letter  in  respect  of  faithfulness, 
while  it  shows  us  the  impression  made  at  the 
time  upon  others  better  than  even  such  a  letter 
would.  In  it  the  natural  and  the  supernatural 
meet  on  a  higher  plane  of  thought,  and  become 
identified. 


XVI 

THE  CONVERSION  OF   PAUL 
Ac/s  8  :  I  and  g  :  1-22 

Saul  of  Tarsus  appears  first  in  the  scene  of 
Stephen's  death,  as  a  man  of  active  age  (not 
necessarily  a  young  man  in  our  sense),  taking 
a  leading  part  in  that  terrible  scene.  He  was 
already  a  person  of  influence  in  Jerusalem, 
marked  out  as  a  leader  by  his  intense  and  de- 
vouring enthusiasm,  especially  where  some- 
thing exceptional  or  dangerous  had  to  be  done. 
The  stoning  of  Stephen,  though  stoning  was 
permitted  by  the  Jewish  Law  in  cases  of  ex- 
ceptional and  gross  impiety,  was  dangerous  to 
the  perpetrators  as  being  contrary  to  Roman 
law.  This  disgraceful  act,  and  the  even  more 
disgraceful  persecution  which  followed  (more 
disgraceful  because  more  cold-blooded  and 
long-drawn-out),  were  performed  under  the 
superintendence  of  Saul.  He  made  havoc  of 
the  Church  for  some  time,  during  which  oc- 
curred the  first  stage  of  Philip's  mission  in  Sa- 

113 


1 1 4    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

maria  and  the  coast  towns.  Under  the  Roman 
law  the  persecution  must  stop  short  of  the 
death  penalty.  Though  occasionally  some  ex- 
ceptional act  of  Jewish  religious  frenzy,  such 
as  Stephen's  murder,  might  be  winked  at,  yet 
the  Roman  Government  would  not  permit  such 
acts  to  become  habitual.  Saul,  therefore,  hav- 
ing done  all  that  was  possible  in  Jerusalem, 
looked  out  for  a  new  field  of  action. 

Palestine  offered  none,  for  the  Faith  was 
only  beginning  to  spread  in  the  rest  of  the 
country.  Moreover,  the  Roman  rule  curbed  his 
action  seriously,  and  prevented  him  from  doing 
an3^thing  drastic,  except  where  a  large  body  of 
Jews,  living  together  and  amenable  in  religious 
matters  to  the  Jewish  Law,  offered  an  oppor- 
tunity. 

He  fixed  his  eyes,  accordingly,  on  the  great 
city  of  Damascus,  which  w^as  outside  the  sphere 
of  Roman  law,  and  governed  loosely  by  the 
barbarian  King  of  Arabia.  In  such  a  city  the 
close-knit  fraternity  of  the  Jews  was  permitted 
to  exercise  its  own  religious  law  very  freely 
and  fully.  A  large  body  of  Jews  had  settled 
there  and  maintained  their  worship  in  several 
synagogues.     Saul,  either  hearing  or  suspect- 


The  Conversion  of  Paul  115 

ing  that  the  Faith  had  spread  thither,  sought 
and  obtained  letters  from  the  high  priest  and 
the  Council  or  Sanhedrin  (22  :  5)  to  the 
rulers  of  the  synagogues  in  Damascus,  commis- 
sioning him  to  seize  all  Christians  and  bring 
them  to  Jerusalem.  It  is  evident  that  the  rul- 
ers of  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem  exercised  author- 
ity in  religious  matters  over  the  Jews  abroad. 

We  see  here  a  proof  that  Sadducees  (as  the 
high  priests  were)  and  Pharisees  (who  were 
influential  in  the  Council)  were  united  in  hatred 
to  the  new  Faith  since  Stephen  had  offended 
the  latter.  In  Damascus,  however,  the  Chris- 
tians were  still  living  at  peace  among  their  kins- 
men as  a  school  or  sect  of  the  Jews  (9  :  10, 
22  \  12),  just  as  the  Church  in  Jerusalem  had 
done  in  the  first  two  years  after  the  Crucifixion. 

Saul's  journey  to  Damascus  would  naturally 
be  made  by  the  direct  road,  called  "the  Way  of 
the  Sea"  (i.e.  the  Sea  of  Galilee),  crossing  the 
Jordan  by  the  "bridge  of  Jacob's  daughters" 
(as  it  is  now  called)  a  few  miles  above  that 
Sea.  Modern  travelers  from  Jerusalem  to  Da- 
mascus usually  make  a  detour  in  order  to  see 
the  sources  of  the  Jordan  and  the  Waters  of 
Merom,  and  thence  follow  a  different  road  to 


1 1 6    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Jerusalem.  The  old  tradition  places  the  scene 
of  the  remarkable  event  that  followed  at  Kau- 
kab,  where  the  "Way  of  the  Sea"  crosses  a 
very  slight  ridge  about  twelve  miles  south  of 
Damascus.  Here  the  first  view  of  Damascus 
burst  on  the  persecutor's  sight ;  "and  suddenly 
there  shone  round  about  him  a  light  out  of 
heaven"  "above  the  brightness  of  the  sun," 
and  the  whole  company  fell  to  the  ground. 
The  others  seem  to  have  risen  at  once  to  their 
feet  (9  :  7)  ;  and  they  comprehended  little  or 
nothing  of  what  Saul  describes  as  happening 
to  him  while  he  lay  on  the  ground.  Doubtless 
they  went  on  to  Damascus  in  due  course,  and 
mentioned  as  they  sat  at  meat  or  over  their 
wine  a  remarkable  natural  phenomenon  that  oc- 
curred by  the  way.    Jesus  was  not  for  them. 

The  scene  is  three  times  described  in  the 
Acts,  twice  by  Saul  in  speeches  to  which  Luke 
may  perhaps  have  himself  listened,  and  once  by 
Luke  in  his  narrative.  The  ultimate  authority 
is  in  every  case  Saul;  Luke  tells  what  he  had 
himself  heard  Saul  narrate  during  their  long 
and  familiar  intercourse.  There  are  certain 
slight  differences  between  the  three  descrip- 
tions.   Luke  must  have  been  fully  conscious  of 


The  Conversion  of  Paul  1 1  ^ 

these  variations ;  and,  since  he  has  allowed  them 
to  remain  in  his  history,  we  must  understand 
that  Saul  sometimes  laid  more  emphasis  on 
some  points,  sometimes  on  others;  and  that 
Luke  was  impressed  by  the  variations  and  in- 
tentionally records  them.  In  this  we  must  not 
merely  recognize  the  singular  accuracy  and 
honesty  of  the  historian,  but  also  we  must  infer 
that  Luke  regarded  the  differences  as  being 
characteristic  of  the  scene.  Saul  was  the  best 
possible  authority  about  what  happened  to  him- 
self; but  he  was  so  entirely  absorbed  in  the 
vision  that  he  was  not  aware  exactly  of  what 
his  companions  did  and  felt. 

In  regard  to  the  vision,  attention  may  spe- 
cially be  directed  to  the  following  points : 

I.  Saul  both  heard  and  saw  the  Lord.  He 
lays  most  stress  in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians 
on  the  fact  that  he  had  seen  Him.  He  had  no 
doubt  as  to  this.  He  had  seen,  and  he  knew 
that  Jesus,  whom  he  had  thought  dead,  was 
living  and  was  Lord.  This  profound  and  un- 
hesitating conviction  that  the  same  Jesus  who 
had  preached  and  been  crucified  was  still  liv- 
ing is  most  easily  explained,  if  Saul  had  seen 
Him  in  His  earthly  life.    Hence,  like  the  Apos- 


1 1 8    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ties,  Saul  was  a  witness  that  Jesus  was  not 
dead,  but  had  risen. 

2.  The  question  is  often  asked  whether  the 
vision  was  objective  or  subjective,  whether 
Saul  saw  or  only  imagined.  It  is  recorded  b}/ 
Luke  in  the  words  of  Saul  that  the  other  trav- 
elers saw  no  man.  Saul  alone  saw  Jesus. 
There  is  an  element  in  the  human  being  which 
must  respond,  before  communication  can  take 
place  between  the  Divine  power  and  the  hu- 
man nature.  Saul  alone  could  respond  and 
see.'  But  that  the  vision  was  real,  Saul  could 
never  doubt.  It  was  the  most  real  event  in  his 
life.  It  changed  his  whole  career.  It  has  al- 
tered the  course  of  all  history,  and  affected  the 
entire  world.  The  full  comprehension  of  this 
great  and  marvelous  event  is  fundamental  in 
the  Christian  life.  The  more  one  ponders  over 
It,  and  the  better  one  understands  it,  the  more 
real  is  one's  grasp  of  the  true  nature  of  re- 
ligion and  of  the  true  relation  between  God 
and  man. 

3.  There  was  no  apparent  preparation  in 
Saul's  recent  life  for  his  change  of  character. 
He  was  revelling  in  the  full  course  of  persecu- 
tion.   He  was  firmly  persuaded  that  Jesus  had 


The  Conversion  of  Paul  1 1 9 

been  an  impostor,  and  that  for  himself  the  one 
right  work  was  to  punish  all  who  believed  in 
Jesus,  and  to  eradicate  and  destroy  that  be- 
lief. When  he  was  at  the  height  of  his  fanat- 
ical resolve,  he  was  suddenly  stopped  and 
turned  into  another  path  by  the  heavenly  vision. 
4.  Yet  there  was  in  Saul's  past  life  a  real 
preparation  for  his  vision  and  his  new  career. 
In  later  meditation  he  recognized  that  his 
whole  life  had  been  a  preparation,  and  that  al- 
ready before  his  birth  the  preparation  had  be- 
gun in  the  circumstances  and  situation  of  his 
family.  He  was  born  to  be  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles.  He  had  been  brought  up  from  in- 
fancy in  the  Greek  city  of  Tarsus  as  at  once  a 
citizen  of  that  city  and  also  a  burgess  of  the 
imperial  city  Rome.  He  had  been  trained  to 
a  far  wider  outlook  on  the  world  than  the  peo- 
ple of  Jerusalem  could  attain  to.  He  knew 
the  pagan  world  from  inside,  its  needs,  its  de- 
sires, its  religious  longings,  its  weaknesses,  and 
its  crimes.  He  could  appreciate  the  univer- 
sality of  the  Saviour's  life  and  message  to  the 
world  in  a  more  complete  way  than  any  of  the 
Palestinian  Christians.  He  had  for  the  time 
been  forced  into  alliance  with  the  persecuting 


I20   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Jews  of  Jerusalem  by  the  common  hatred  which 
he  and  they  felt  for  the  Jesus  whom  he  misun- 
derstood ;  but  that  alliance  could  not  have  been 
permanent.  Saul  was  too  wide  and  too  bold 
in  his  views  to  remain  a  mere  Pharisee.  True 
comprehension  of  Jesus  was  needed  to  ripen 
Saul's  character.  This  comprehension  could 
not  be  attained  until  he  had  been  disabused  of 
the  belief  that  Jesus  was  dead.  The  Lord  re- 
vealed Himself  to  him  at  the  proper  moment, 
and  broke  the  barrier  that  was  preventing  the 
completion  of  Saul's  education  for  the  purpose 
of  his  life. 


XVII 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  GREEK  CHURCH 

Acts  II  :  ig-jo  ;  12  :  2j 

The  new  Churches,  Samaria,  Lydda,  Joppa, 
even  Caesarea,  were  of  secondary  importance  in 
the  history  of  the  Church,  and  are  mentioned 
merely  as  steps  in  the  growth  of  a  young  power. 
We  come  now  to  one  of  the  great  Churches 
of  the  Roman  world. 

Antioch  of  Syria  was  the  first  Gentile 
Church,  and  exercised,  as  such,  a  distinct  in- 
fluence at  the  time.  The  relation  between  Jews 
and  Greeks  in  that  great  city  raised  the  gen- 
eral question  of  Gentile  rights  in  the  Church, 
and  after  long  controversy  was  settled  by  the 
first  Council,  a  precursor  of  the  CEcumenical 
Councils  of  later  centuries. 

Antioch  afterwards  became  one  of  the  five 
patriarchates  of  the  Christian  world;  and  her 
future  dignity  was  foreshadowed  in  her  im- 
portance at  the  first.  It  is  remarkable  that  in 
general  the  history  of  the  early  Christian  period 

121 


122    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

is  an  anticipation,  and  so  to  say  a  prophetic 
forecast  of  the  subsequent  course  of  history; 
the  same  principles  were  at  work,  and  there 
was  a  general  similarity  in  their  effect  on  the 
earlier  and  the  later  Roman  Empire. 

The  Christians  who  were  scattered  at 
Stephen's  death  carried  the  gospel  wherever 
they  went,  and  sowed  broadcast  the  seed  of  the 
Church.  In  every  city  they  found  themselves 
at  home  among  their  own  people  and  in  their 
own  synagogues;  and  they  were  still  gener- 
ally of  the  earliest  Jewish-Christian  type.  They 
had  not  adopted  the  ideas  of  Stephen,  but 
were  still  in  the  older  stage  when  the  Church 
seemed  to  be  little  more  than  a  school  or  sect 
of  Judaism  with  certain  additional  rules. 
Hence,  wherever  they  went,  they  ''spake  only 
to  the  Jews";  Philip  stood  almost  unique  in 
his  wider  outlook.  But  the  leaders  of  the 
Church  endorsed  Philip's  action,  and  thus  be- 
gan a  certain  divergence  of  view  between  the 
leaders  and  the  mass  of  the  Jewish  Church. 
In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  this  divergence 
is  implied  as  a  very  marked  feature. 

In  Antioch  a  wider  address  was  inaugurated 
by    certain    Christian    Jews    of    Cyprus    and 


Origin  of  the  Greek  Church       123 

Cyrene,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  Hve 
among  Gentiles.  They  began  to  address  them- 
selves to  those  Greeks  who  had  already  been 
attracted  by  the  simple  and  lofty  religion  of 
the  Hebrews,  and  had  thus  come  within  the 
influence  of  the  synagogues. 

The  religious  position  of  these  Antiochian 
Greeks  was  quite  similar  to  that  of  Cornelius, 
but  his  case  is  described  as  a  single  one,  whereas 
in  Antioch  many  Greeks  came  over  to  the  new 
Faith.  The  general  principle  was  determined 
in  the  single  case;  but  at  Antioch  a  Church 
grew  up  composed  mainly  of  Greeks,  who, 
though  friendly  to  the  synagogue,  had  never 
been  proselytes.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the 
first  Greek  or  Gentile  Church. 

The  new  Faith  now  entered  on  its  career 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  for  so  long  as  it  was 
composed  only  of  Jews  and  proselytes,  it  stood, 
in  a  sense,  outside  the  Empire  and  in  some  de- 
gree outside  of  the  Roman  law,  being  amen- 
able in  all  religious  matters  to  the  Jewish  rules 
and  the  authority  of  the  priests.  Now,  even 
in  religious  matters,  Christians  of  Greek  birth 
were  free  from  the  Jewish  authority  and  sub- 
ject only  to  the  law  of  the  Empire.     It  was 


124    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

therefore  in  Antioch  that  the  existence  of  the 
new  sect  as  a  part  of  the  Empire  was  recog- 
nized; and  then  people  devised  a  nickname  by 
which  they  might  speak  about  it;  and  thus  in 
the  slang  of  Antioch  arose  a  term  which  became 
a  title  of  honor  afterwards,  "Christians,"  the 
people  of  Christus. 

As  in  the  case  of  Philip's  action  in  Samaria, 
the  new  step  made  at  Antioch  was  sanctioned 
and  accepted  by  the  Church  in  Jerusalem,  af- 
ter an  inspection  had  been  made  first  by  Barn- 
abas and  afterwards  (as  Paul  mentions,  Gal. 
2  :  ii)  by  Peter.  Luke  records  only  the  for- 
mer, and  evidently  regarded  it  as  conclusive 
evidence  of  the  Church's  approval.  Barnabas 
recognized  the  epoch-making  character  of  the 
new  step.  He  saw  that  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  Greek  element  in  the  Antiochian  Church 
needed  a  man  of  peculiar  qualifications.  He 
perceived  that  Saul  (whom  he  had  met  and 
appreciated  in  Jerusalem  eight  or  nine  years 
before)  was  the  right  man  for  the  work,  and 
he  went  to  Tarsus  and  fetched  him.  This 
probably  occurred  in  a.d.  43  or  the  early  days 
of  A.D.  44. 

Immediately  afterwards  a  step  of  supreme 


Origin  of  the  Greek  Church       1 2  5 

importance  in  consolidating  the  now  scattered 
Churches  was  made.  This  step  was  of  the 
kind  which  we  saw  to  be  important  in  the 
earhest  Church  at  Jerusalem — it  consisted  in 
the  organization  of  a  Church  fund  for  the  re- 
lief of  distress — but  it  was  wider  in  character, 
for  it  applied  money  contributed  in  one  city 
to  relieve  distress  in  another.  This  great  step 
was  made  from  a  small  and  apparently  acci- 
dental beginning.  The  prophet  Agabus  an- 
nounced ''that  there  should  be  great  dearth 
over  all  the  world" — not  of  course  a  universal 
failing  of  the  crops  in  the  same  year  in  all  parts 
— and  this  did  in  fact  occur  in  many  places 
during  the  reign  of  Claudius,  a.d.  41-54.  The 
Church  in  Antioch  resolved  to  collect  money 
and  to  send  relief  to  the  central  and  mother 
Church  in  Jerusalem.  This  plan  formed  the 
model  for  the  contribution  which  Paul  twelve 
years  later  arranged  in  the  new  Churches  of 
Galatia,  Asia,  Macedonia,  and  Achaia,  and 
which  delegates  carried  to  Jerusalem  with 
them  (Acts  20  :  4,  24  :  17,  i  Cor.  16  :  1-3). 
Thus  the  principle  was  established  that  all 
parts  and  members  of  the  Universal  Church 
should  help  to  support  and  stimulate  the  life 


126    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

of  each  other.  The  practical  working  out  of 
this  principle  involved  constant  intercourse  be- 
tween the  separate  parts  of  the  Church,  the 
transmission  of  knowledge  to  all  parts  about 
everything  that  concerned  every  part,  the  in- 
terchange of  ideas,  the  sending  of  letters,  the 
traveling  of  individuals  from  congregation  to 
congregation,  the  hospitable  reception  of  every 
traveler  wherever  he  went,  the  sense  of  unity 
and  brotherhood  brought  home  to  every  trav- 
eler by  finding  in  all  cities  Christian  friends  be- 
lieving and  thinking  like  himself.  This  con- 
stant inter-communication  was  of  inestimable 
importance;  it  was  the  circulation  of  the  very 
life-blood  of  the  Church. 

The  famine  in  Judea,  as  Josephus  describes 
it,  was  very  severe,  and  the  worst  time  was 
in  A.D.  46:  these  facts  imply  that  the  harvest 
failed  in  44  and  45,  and  that  the  extreme  of 
scarcity  was  reached  just  before  the  harvest  of 
46.  The  mission  of  Barnabas  and  Saul  as  the 
leaders  of  a  deputation  to  carry  help  from 
Antioch  occurred  in  44. 

The  relation  of  Jews  to  Gentiles  in  the  new 
Church  was  naturally  a  subject  of  discussion 
between  the  two  envoys  and  the  Apostles.  The 


Origin  of  the  Greek  Church       127 

question  whether  the  Greek  converts  should 
be  required  to  conform  to  the  Jewish  Law  was 
answered  in  the  negative.  These  discussions 
seem  to  have  occurred  during  private  com- 
munications and  conversations  with  the  leading 
Apostles  in  Jerusalem;  and  no  formal  assembly 
of  the  Church  was  held.  The  time  for  public 
consultation  had  not  yet  come.  The  envoys 
were  not  empowered  to  lay  the  matter  for- 
mally before  the  Church  of  Jerusalem;  but 
they  must  already  have  perceived  the  questions 
and  difficulties  that  must  arise;  and  they  were 
strengthened  in  their  work  at  Antioch  by  the 
concurrence  of  the  Apostles  in  all  that  they  had 
done,  and  in  their  plans  for  the  future  relations 
between  Jewish  and  Gentile  Christians  in  the 
Antiochian  congregation. 

Saul  seems  to  have  hoped  that  this  occasion, 
when  he  was  bringing  help  to  his  people  in  their 
need,  would  afford  a  good  opportunity  of  ap- 
pealing to  them  and  touching  their  hearts ;  but 
he  was  warned  in  a  vision  to  depart  from  Jeru- 
salem, ''for  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto 
the  Gentiles."  He  was,  however,  now  ac- 
cepted by  the  leading  Apostles,  James  and 
Cephas  and  John,  as  "entrusted  with  the  gos- 


128    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

pel  of  the  pagans"  in  virute  of  "the  grace  that 
was  given  unto"  him,  i.e.  the  vision  and  the 
direct  commission  of  God. 

The  incidents  of  this  visit  to  Jerusalem  have 
to  be  pieced  together  from  Acts  ii  :  29  f., 
12  :  25,  and  22  :  17-21,  and  Galatians  2  :  i- 
10;  and  when  placed  side  by  side,  the  various 
details  there  mentioned  suit  each  other  per- 
fectly. 


XVIII 

THE  APPROACH   TO  THE  GENTILES 
Ac/s  I  J  :  1-12 

As  Luke  described  the  government  of  the 
Church  in  Jerusalem  by  the  Twelve,  and  the 
appointment  of  the  Seven  to  co-operate  with 
them  when  the  volume  of  business  increased,  so 
at  this  point,  after  telling  how  the  first  Gen- 
tile Church  was  founded,  and  how  it  was 
united  to  the  central  body  in  Jerusalem  by  the 
tie  of  charity  and  service,  he  names  the  lead- 
ers of  this  new  Church,  Barnabas,  Symeon 
Niger,  Lucius  a  Cyrenaean,  Menahem  (in 
Greek  Manaen),  and  Saul.  The  order  evi- 
dently gives  the  official  precedence  and  dignity 
at  this  period,  a.d.  45.  Barnabas  ranks  first 
as  representing  the  authority  of  the  central 
Church  and  as  deputy  of  the  Apostles,  Saul 
last  as  the  youngest  and  latest.  The  other 
three  are  evidently  the  early  founders  of  the 
Antiochian  Church.     The  order  is  that  of  the 

129 


130   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

moment.  Shortly  afterwards  no  one  would 
have  thought  of  placing  Saul  last. 

The  five  ranked  as  "prophets  and  teachers." 
They  were  marked  out  by  their  individual  gifts 
as  leaders;  and  the  administration  of  the  Anti- 
ochian  Church  was  analogous  to  that  of  Jeru- 
salem. 

There  were  not,  as  yet,  in  the  Gentile  Church 
any  officers  bearing  an  official  title,  such  as 
bishop  or  deacon.  There  were  only  men  of 
eminent  spiritual  power,  who  on  that  account 
administered  the  work  of  the  Church.  The 
careful  precision  with  which  Luke  marks  the 
character  of  Church  government  in  this  early 
time  shows  that  he  appreciated  thoroughly  the 
importance  of  orderly  administration,  and  that 
it  was  his  intention  to  indicate  the  steps  by 
which  administrative  methods  were  elaborated. 
About  sixteen  years  later  Paul  wrote  to  the 
congregation  in  Philippi  with  its  bishops  and 
deacons;  in  the  interval  the  government  of 
Gentile  Churches  had  been  more  definitely  or- 
ganized. About  sixteen  years  earlier  Peter, 
only  a  few  days  after  the  Resurrection,  had 
spoken  of  ''bishopric"  and  'Vleaconship"  as  the 
sphere  of  duty  of  the  Apostles.    The  old  Greek 


The  Approach  to  the  Gentiles      131 

religious  term  ''liturgy"  is  chosen  by  Luke  to 
describe  the  sphere  of  duty  of  the  five  prophets 
and  teachers  in  Antioch. 

In  the  course  of  their  ministration  and  fast- 
ing, the  message  of  God  was  made  known  to 
them  that  the  hour  had  arrived  for  begin- 
ning the  special  work  to  which  Barnabas  and 
Saul  had  been  called.  A  previous  call  is  here 
mentioned.  The  summons  which  had  been 
given  to  Saul  has  already  been  described  ;^  but 
we  do  not  learn  how  or  when  it  came  to  Barna- 
bas. We  know  only  that  the  two  returned 
together  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  and 
at  the  proper  moment  (probably  in  the  spring 
of  A.D.  46)  they  were  ordered  to  begin  their 
work. 

It  is  not  stated  that  their  work  was  defined. 
Apparently  its  exact  character  and  sphere  was 
not  known.  It  had  to  be  discovered  by  doing  it ; 
and  when  the  two  missionaries  returned  to  An- 
tioch it  was  recognized  by  the  Church  that  they 
had  fulfilled  it  (14  :  26).  We  also  must  dis- 
cover what  it  was  by  reading  the  account  of 
their  work. 

The  Church  of  Antioch  sent  them  forth,  re- 

*  See  Section  XVII. 


132    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

leasing  them  from  their  duties  there.  The 
Church  of  Antioch  received  them  again  on 
their  return  (14  :  27).  It  was  thereby  marked 
out  as  the  Mother-Church  of  the  PauHne  con- 
gregations; and  it  ranks  henceforth  as  more 
truly  the  directing  and  moving  power  in  the 
Universal  Church  than  Jerusalem  was. 

The  Church  of  Antioch  sent  them  forth;  but 
also  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  them  forth.  The 
action  of  the  assembled  congregation  is  the 
action  of  the  Spirit,  alike  at  Antioch  (13  :  4) 
and  at  Jerusalem  (15  :  28). 

The  two  Apostles  went  down  to  Seleucia, 
the  harbor  of  Antioch,  and  sailed  for  Cyprus, 
where  they  made  a  missionary  progress 
through  the  island,  beginning  from  Salamis. 
Nothing  that  called  for  permanent  record  oc- 
curred, until  they  reached  Paphos,  the  capital 
city  at  the  western  end  of  the  island,  where 
the   Roman  governor  lived. 

This  lack  of  record  does  not  imply  want 
of  information  on  Luke^s  part,  but  only  that 
the  procedure  in  Cyprus  was  similar  to  what 
had  occurred  in  Syria  and  Palestine:  the 
Apostles  everywhere  addressed  the  congrega- 
tions  in  the  synagogues,   including  doubtless 


The  Approach  to  the  Gentiles      133 

the  **God-fearing"  Gentiles^  who  had  been  at- 
tracted to  attend,  but  they  did  not  appeal  di- 
rectly- to  the  Gentiles.  No  new  step  was  made 
until  at  Paphos  the  Proconsul,  Sergius  Paulus, 
invited  Barnabas  and  Saul  to  explain  their  doc- 
trine to  him.  This  Roman  official  was  ''a  man 
of  understanding,"  interested  in  philosophic 
and  scientific  studies,  and  he  desired  to  hear 
what  these  new  teachers  of  philosophy  had  to 
say. 

At  this  point  the  Apostles  came  in  contact 
with  a  Jew  named  Bar- Jesus,  one  of  those 
magicians,  similar  to  Simon  of  Samaria,  who 
were  so  common  in  the  ancient  world.  Such 
persons  were,  generally,  of  the  same  character, 
possessing  a  certain  stock  of  real  knowledge 
about  the  powers  and  processes  of  nature, 
which  they  eked  out  in  varying  degrees  by  im- 
posture and  fraudulent  tricks.    To  judge  from 

*That  large  class  of  Gentiles  in  many  cities,  who 
had  been  attracted  by  the  austere  and  high  doctrines 
of  Judaism,  and  who  formed  an  outer  circle  round 
the  synagogues,  are  commonly  called  by  Luke  "God- 
fearing" (also  "devout"  Acts  17  :  17;  but  "devout"  in 
8  :  2  is  a  different  Greek  word:  see  Section  IX  end). 

'"Directly,"  i.e.,  amid  the  surroundings  of  Gentile 
life,  and  not  in  the  assemblies  of  the  Jews. 


134    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

the  brief  account  given  by  Luke,  Bar-Jesus 
seems  to  have  been  rather  more  of  an  impostor 
and  less  of  a  beHever  in  his  own  aims  and 
powers,  than  Simon;  but  still  he  had  sufficient 
knowledge  to  impose  on  a  man  of  understand- 
ing like  Sergius  Paulus  and  to  be  received 
among  his  personal  friends. 

The  magician  forthwith  recognized  that  the 
newly  arrived  Jews  were  dangerous  rivals.  He 
doubtless  regarded  them  as  persons  of  his  own 
class,  bent  on  obtaining  reputation,  influence, 
and  fortune  by  public  exhibition  of  their 
knowledge  and  their  powers ;  and  he  sought  to 
turn  away  the  Proconsul  from  listening  to 
them.  Thus  the  scene  was  turned  into  a  direct 
combat  between  the  one  power  and  the  other, 
between  the  sorcerer  or  false  prophet  Bar- 
Jesus  and  the  preachers  of  the  true  Faith. 

There,  in  a  hall  or  an  open  court  of  the  Pro- 
consul's palace,  the  contest  was  fought.  We 
are  left  to  imagine  the  earlier  stages.  The 
narrative  moves  on  to  the  point  where  the  ma- 
gician, observing  the  effect  which  the  words  of 
Barnabas  and  Saul  were  exerting  on  the  Ro- 
man, and  dreading  that  they  might  supplant 
him  in  the  favor  of  the  great  man,  tried  to 


The  Approach  to  the  Gentiles      135 

interrupt  the  hearing.  Perhaps  he  sought  to 
cast  ridicule  on  the  speakers.  Certainly  he 
attempted  to  misrepresent  and  distort  the  his- 
tory of  Jesus,  whom  they  were  preaching,  and 
thus  ''pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord." 
Perhaps  he  tried  to  impress  the  Proconsul  by 
some  tricky  exhibition  of  his  power.  In  one 
way  or  another  he  roused  the  enthusiasm  and 
wrath  of  Saul,  who,  though  hitherto  secondary 
to  Barnabas,  now  assumed  the  foremost  place. 
We  can  imagine  him  making  a  step  forward, 
transported  with  the  indwelling  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  fixing  his  blazing  eyes  on  the 
sorcerer,  who  cowered  and  shrivelled  beneath 
that  terrible  gaze  and  the  terrible  words  that 
accompanied  it.  Some  such  withering  effect 
is  clearly  implied  in  the  act  that  followed. 
Bar- Jesus  lost  all  power  of  resistance  and  all 
will-power;  he  was  helpless  before  the  denun- 
ciation of  the  Apostle.  As  he  heard  the  voice 
of  doom  that  he  should  be  blind  for  a  time,  he 
tottered  about  in  the  hall,  groping  for  some 
one  who  might  guide  him. 

This  marvelous  scene  is  the  first  in  which 
the  gospel  was  presented  direct  to  a  Gentile 
(and  doubtless  to  a  group  of  Gentiles,  the  at- 


136   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tendants  on  the  Proconsul),  wholly  unprepared 
by  previous  participation  in  the  teaching  of  the 
Synagogues.  Without  intending  it,  and  with- 
out seeking  the  opportunity,  the  Apostles  had 
"turned  to  the  Gentiles" ;  and  the  occasion  was 
consecrated  and  marked  as  epoch-making  by 
a  wonderful  exhibition  of  spiritual  power. 

In  this  moment,  filled  with  the  Spirit,  Saul 
steps  into  the  position  of  leader;  and  at  the 
same  moment  his  Jewish  name  Saul  drops 
from  him  in  the  historian's  mind  and  narrative. 
His  Greek  and  Roman  name  Paul  is  now  men- 
tioned for  the  first  time,  and  henceforth  he 
stands  before  us  in  Luke's  pages  as  the  Roman 
or  Greek  Paulus.  He  moves  henceforth  in  the 
Greek  and  Roman  world  as  a  member  of  it, 
bearing  a  name  that  belongs  to  it.  It  happened 
that  the  Greek  and  Roman  name  of  the  Apostle 
was  the  same  as  the  last  name  of  the  Procon- 
sul; but  this  was  a  mere  accident.  Saul  had 
possessed  from  childhood  the  name  Paulus, 
He  was  born  in  a  double  rank,  a  Jew  among 
Jews,  and  a  Roman  Tarsian  among  Romans 
and  Hellenes;  and  he  had  two  names  corre- 
sponding to  his  double  rank.  Among  Jews  he 
was  named  Saul;  and  hitherto  we  have  seen 


The  Approach  to  the  Gentiles       137 

him  in  that  character.  Among  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans his  name  was  Paulus,  and  henceforth  we 
shall  see  him  in  this  character. 

The  transition  from  the  one  stage  to  the 
other  is  indicated  by  the  use  of  the  alternative 
names,  "Saul  otherwise  called  Paul."  Further, 
we  must  observe  that  Barnabas  is  henceforth 
mentioned  as  second,  with  rare  exceptions,  as 
at  Jerusalem,  where  the  old  rank  and  order 
were  observed  in  the  Apostolic  decree  (15  : 
12,  25).  Saul  the  Jew  was  second  to  Barnabas 
the  Jew ;  but  Paul  was  first  wherever  he  went. 
On  Paul  all  eyes  were  concentrated,  alike  of 
friends  and  of  enemies.  But  now  and  hence- 
forth he  is  not  simply  the  Hebrew  and  the 
Pharisee;  he  is  the  citizen  and  the  Evangelist 
of  the  Gentile  world. 


XIX 

PAUL   TURNS    TO    THE    GENTILES 
Acts  IS  :  J 3-5 2 

The  dramatic  scene  at  Paphos  did  not  lead  to 
any  further  development  at  the  moment;  and 
the  Apostles  went  on  to  Perga,  the  chief  city 
of  Pamphylia.  The  sea-road  from  Syria  to 
Rome  led  along  these  coasts.  Already  Chris- 
tians had  gone  to  Rome,  and  the  new  Faith 
was  known  in  the  capital  of  the  world.  Prob- 
ably some  idea  of  working  along  the  coasts  of 
the  Roman  voyage  may  have  been  in  the  mind 
of  Paul  already,  and  may  have  guided  his  steps 
gradually  westwards. 

However  that  may  be,  a  complete  change  of 
scene  was  resolved  upon  at  Perga.  No  rea- 
son is  stated;  but  that  some  change  of  plan 
occurred  seems  proved  by  the  fact  that  Mark 
now  abandoned  the  work  and  returned  home. 
The  others  crossed  the  great  extent  of  moun- 
tains that  lay  to  the  north  of  Perga,  a  difficult 
and  even  dangerous  journey  of  more  than  a 
138 


Paul  Turns  to  the  Gentiles         139 

hundred  miles,  and  came  to  Pisidian  Antioch, 
an  important  city,  a  Roman  Colony,^  the  mih- 
tary  and  administrative  centre  of  the  southern 
half  of  the  vast  Province  called  Galatia  by  the 
Romans. 

Here  they  w^ere  received  with  a  hearty  wel- 
come, which  deeply  touched  Paul's  heart. 
Afterwards,  when  writing  to  all  the  Galatian 
Churches,  he  recalls  the  warmth  of  their  kind- 
ness to  him  and  their  ready  reception  of  his 
message;  and  he  lays  stress  on  the  fact  that 
they  welcomed  him  thus,  although  he  came  af- 
flicted in  a  way  that  was  a  severe  test  of  their 
hospitality  and  kindness.  This  affliction  was 
a  disease,  "an  infirmity  of  the  flesh,"  which 
was  considered  in  those  lands  as  a  proof  of 
Divine  wrath  and  curse,  and  usually  caused 
the  sufferer  to  be  despised  and  treated  as  an 
outcast.  Paul,  however,  was  regarded  by  the 
people  of  the  Province  Galatia  as  ''a  messenger 
of  God"  (Gal  4  :  13). 

This  illness  which  afflicted  Paul  is  elsewhere 
described  by  him  as  a  serious  hindrance  to  his 

*  Colony,  i.e.,  garrison  city,  in  which  Roman  settlers 
and  soldiers  with  their  families  constituted  a  privileged 
aristocracy. 


140   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

work,  striking  him  down  suddenly  and  often. 
He  mentions  also  that  this  disease  was  the 
reason  why  he  came  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the 
cities  of  Galatia.  His  words  show  plainly  that 
he  had  a  serious  illness  in  Perga,  and  on  that 
account  the  scene  of  work  was  changed  from 
the  enervating  coast  lands  to  the  high  plateau 
where  the  Galatian  cities  lay.  At  the  moment 
the  defection  of  Mark  was  keenly  felt  by  the 
sufferer;  and  for  years  he  retained  a  distrust 
of  Mark,  though  in  the  end  they  became  again 
fellow-workers. 

The  narrative  in  the  Acts  illustrates  and  con- 
firms in  a  striking  way  the  picture  given  in 
Paul's  letters.  The  Apostles  came  to  Antioch, 
and  on  the  first  Sabbath  they  were  invited  by 
the  rulers  of  the  synagogue  to  address  the  con- 
gregation. The  brief  narrative  is  silent  as  to 
the  reasons  for  this  invitation;  and  we  can 
only  guess  at  them.  But  such  is  Luke's 
method ;  he  states  the  facts,  but  is  usually  silent 
as  to  the  circumstances  which  in  his  view  were 
unimportant.  What  was  important  in  the  his- 
torian's view  was  the  address  delivered  by  Paul, 
who  had  now  become  the  leader  and  the  chief 
speaker. 


Paul  Turns  to  the  Gentiles         141 

This  was,  apparently,  the  first  time  that  Paul 
had  preached  since  the  Paphian  scene.  His 
views  were  now  broadened;  and  here,  for  the 
first  time,  Luke  gives  us  a  report  of  a  sermon 
by  Paul.  He  recognized  that  now  at  last  Paul 
had  perceived  his  true  vocation,  and  this  is 
selected  as  a  typical  discourse.  It  therefore 
deserves  careful  study. 

The  first  thing  that  we  observe  is  that  Paul 
addresses  himself  not  to  the  Jews  alone,  but  to 
Jews  and  the  God-fearing  Gentiles  equally  It 
is  evident  that  there  was  a  number  of  the  latter 
class  present  in  the  synagogue,  persons  pre- 
viously inclined  towards  the  simple  and  lofty 
religion  of  Judaism;  and  that  they  attracted 
the  notice  even  of  a  stranger.  In  his  opening 
words  Paul  appealed  to  the  two  classes  of 
hearers  separately;  and  in  verse  17  the  word 
"our"  refers  to  the  Jews  alone.  In  verse  26, 
the  two  classes  of  hearers  are  again  mentioned 
and  are  both  called  "brethren,"  and  summed 
up  together  "to  us  is  the  word  of  this  salvation 
sent  forth."  Here  for  the  first  time  is  the 
Pauline  Gospel  declared;  we  are  all  equal,  all 
brethren,  all  alike  in  the  new  Faith.  In  verse 
38,  the  entire  congregation  is  appealed  to  as 


142    Pic  her  es  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

''brethren"  simply;  the  distinction  of  the  two 
classes  has  been  forgotten;  there  is  only  one 
class  in  the  gospel;  there  is  remission  of  sins 
for  all;  all  who  believe  are  justified.  To  this 
Paul  adds  that  the  Law  of  Moses  was  not  able 
to  save  them  from  their  sins. 

The  effect  of  this  address  was  extraordinary. 
Luke  speaks  as  emphatically  on  this  point  as 
Paul  in  Galatians  4  :  13  f.  On  the  next  Sab- 
bath, about  ten  days  after  the  Apostles  had  ar- 
rived/ "almost  the  whole  city  was  gathered 
together  to  hear  the  word."  The  message  of 
Paul  was  accepted  by  the  Gentiles  as  their  own. 
The  Jews  on  the  contrary  felt  a  grudge.  They 
began  to  realize  more  than  they  had  at  first 
all  that  was  implied  in  Paul's  gospel. 

In    Pisidian    Antioch    there    had    evidently 

reigned  general  good  feeling  between  the  Jews 

and  their   fellow-citizens.     The   former  were 

comparatively    open-minded    and    free    from 

bigotry.     They  were  Cjuite  willing  to  welcome 

the  Gentiles  as  hearers  in  the  Synagogue,  and 

^  As  regards  the  shortness  of  the  time  that  had 
elapsed  since  Paul  and  Barnabas  reached  Pisidian  An- 
tioch, the  present  writer  took  a  wrong  view  in  "St.  Paul 
the  Traveller,"  p.  99  f.  The  error  has  been  corrected  in 
"The  Cities  of  St.  Paul,"  p.  298. 


Paul  Turns  to  the  Geiitiles         143 

to  extend  religious  patronage  to  them.  But 
they  were  not  wilHng  to  regard  them  as  equals 
and  brothers.  Now,  like  Bar-Jesus  at  Paphos, 
they  "contradicted  the  things  which  were 
spoken  by  Paul,  and  blasphemed."  Thereupon 
Paul  pronounced  the  final  words  of  severance, 
"we  turn  to  the  Gentiles."  To  the  Gentiles  he 
addressed  himself  henceforth  primarily  in 
Antioch.  The  whole  region  of  which  Antioch 
was  the  central  city  was  gradually  affected  by 
the  preaching  of  Paul.  This  would  take  place 
through  the  various  causes  which  brought  to 
that  great  Roman  Colony  and  centre  of  gov- 
ernment the  inhabitants  of  the  smaller  towns. 
Paul  and  Barnabas  seem  to  have  resided  con- 
tinuously in  Antioch,  and  trusted  to  these  pub- 
lic gatherings  to  reach  the  wider  audience  of 
the  region. 

The  Jews  were  not  idle.  They  possessed 
great  influence  with  the  ladies  of  the  higher 
class  in  Antioch,  i.e.  the  wives  of  the  Roman 
colonists,  and  with  their  husbands  the  chief 
men  of  the  Colony.  Luke  does  not  state  the 
steps  by  which  the  Jews  effected  their  end. 
There  must  have  been  some  accusation,  a  trial, 
and  a  sentence.     In  all  probability  one  of  the 


144   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

three  cases  in  which  Paul  was  beaten  by  the 
rods  of  Hctors  occurred  as  the  result  of  this 
trial  and  as  the  preliminary  to  expulsion,  for 
it  was  only  in  Roman  colonies  that  this  kind  of 
action  could  occur.  In  Antioch  the  colonial 
magistrates  were  attended  by  lictors. 

Thus  the  Apostles  were  finally  expelled  from 
the  city.  How  long  they  had  resided  in  it  can- 
not be  gathered  with  certainty  from  the  nar- 
rative; but,  though  the  city  was  very  quickly 
affected  by  the  new  Faith,  some  lapse  of  time 
must  have  occurred  while  the  whole  region 
around  Antioch  was  being  permeated ;  and  it  is 
necessary  to  reckon  the  stay  there  as  extending 
over  several  months.  It  may  be  thought  that 
the  Jews  would  have  succeeded  sooner  in  ex- 
pelling them ;  but  it  has  to  be  remembered  that 
Roman  law  ruled  in  the  colony,  and  that  some 
sufficiently  plausible  cause  had  to  be  found  be- 
fore peaceable  strangers  could  be  punished  and 
expelled. 

If  we  assume,  as  seems  probable,  that  this 
missionary  journey  began  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  several  months  must  have  been  spent  in 
evangelizing  all  the  cities  of  Cyprus  and  in  go- 
ing to  Perga.     Mount  Taurus  could  not  well 


Paul  Turns  to  the  Gentiles         145 

be  crossed  by  the  travelers  later  than  October, 
and  probably  the  journey  from  Perga  took 
place  as  early  as  August  or  September.  The 
ancient  custom  was  to  avoid  traveling  in  the 
winter  season.  The  winter  of  a.d.  46-47  was 
spent  in  Antioch. 


XX 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  GALATIA 
Acts  14  :  I -JO 

After  their  expulsion  from  Antioch  the  two 
Apostles  came  to  Iconium.  But  the  new 
Church,  which  they  were  leaving  behind,  was 
already  strong  enough  to  be  self-supporting. 
It  was  not  young  and  delicate,  and  in  need  of 
the  daily  help  and  guidance  of  its  founders.  It 
was  ''filled  with  joy  and  with  the  Holy  Spirit," 
entering  with  good  hope  and  brave  heart  on 
the  new  life.  This  description  confirms  the 
picture  given  by  Paul  himself  in  his  letter  to 
the  Galatians  of  the  extraordinary  vigor  and 
the  fervid  spirit  which  characterized  the  Gala- 
tian  Churches  from  the  beginning. 

If  we  compare  this  state  of  things  with 
the  anxiety  that  Paul  on  his  next  journey  felt 
about  Thessalonica,  when  he  had  to  leave  it 
too  early,  we  feel  that  his  residence  in  Antioch 
must  have  been  long  enough  to  educate  the 
people  of  the  city  and  the  region  round  about 
146 


The  Churches  of  G alalia  147 

it  in  the  principles  and  practise  of  the  Faith; 
and  we  must  conclude  that  the  whole  winter  of 
A.D.  46-47  was  spent  in  the  city.  Moreover, 
the  ancients  were  as  a  rule  inclined  to  regard 
traveling  in  the  winter  on  the  plateau  as  im- 
possible. Just  as  soldiers  did  not  march  or 
fight  in  winter,  so  people  did  not  travel  in  that 
season,  as  appears,  for  example,  from  Basil's 
letters,  written  in  the  fourth  century;  though 
modern  American  missionaries  in  Turkey  make 
light  of  the  hardships  involved  in  winter  travel. 
Antioch  is  about  3500  feet  above  sea-level;  a 
considerable  tract  of  high  mountains  separates 
it  from  Iconium,  which  is  3370  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  the  climate  in  this  region  during 
winter  is  very  severe. 

In  Iconium  also  the  Apostles  had  great  suc- 
cess. They  began,  as  usual,  with  teaching  in 
the  synagogue ;  and  ''a  great  multitude  both  of 
Jews  and  of  Greeks  beHeved."  Here  again, 
as  in  Antioch,  it  seems  to  be  implied  that  there 
existed  a  friendly  relation  between  the  Jews 
and  the  Gentiles  of  the  city ;  so  that  the  preach- 
ing in  the  synagogue  came  immediately  before 
many  Gentiles,  who  had  already  been  under  the 
influence  of  the  pure  and  lofty  morality  of  the 


148    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Old  Testament.  Thus  a  considerable  Church 
was  built  up  rapidly  in  Iconium. 

Mischief  again  arose  from  the  disbelieving 
Jews,  who,  by  ways  that  are  not  described,  set 
the  unconverted  part  of  the  Gentile  population 
at  enmity  with  the  Apostles.  Yet  the  latter 
remained  there  in  spite  of  the  growing  oppo- 
sition, and  taught  boldly  in  public  for  a  long 
time.  This  long  period  must  include  most  of 
the  spring  and  summer  of  a.d.  47. 

The  difference  of  opinion  in  the  city  grew 
stronger;  and  it  is  well  known  that  among  the 
ancients  public  feeling  resented  such  differ- 
ences as  hostile  to  the  unity  which  ought  to 
exist  in  a  city,  and  regarded  the  persons  who 
had  caused  such  differences  as  enemies  of  the 
public  peace,  without  enquiring  whether  their 
acts  were  justifiable  or  not.  It  was  sufficient 
that  their  presence  and  conduct  had  caused  dis- 
sension in  the  city. 

Thus  the  unbelieving  Jews  had  their  hands 
strengthened  against  the  Apostles.  The  end 
was  brought  about  by  mob  violence,  and  not 
by  formal  action  of  the  magistrates  as  at  An- 
tioch.  Paul  and  Barnabas  learned  that  there 
was  a  plot  *'to  entreat  them  shamefully  and  to 


The  Churches  of  Galatia  149 

stone  them."     Such  expressions  point  to  illegal 
and  riotous  conspiracy. 

The  Apostles  yielded  to  the  storm,  and  fled 
to  the  adjoining  country  of  Lycaonia,  viz.  that 
part  of  Lycaonia  which  was  in  the  Roman 
Province  Galatia,  and  which  contained  two 
cities,  Lystra  and  Derbe,  along  with  a  large 
number  of  villages.  Iconium  was  reckoned  by 
popular  native  opinion  as  a  city  of  the  region 
Phrygia,  and  in  their  flight  the  Apostles  crossed 
a  frontier  marked  by  change  of  nationality  and 
of  language;  from  the  old  Phrygian  city  Icon- 
ium they  fled  to  the  Lycaonian  cities  Lystra 
and  Derbe;  but  all  these  cities  alike  were  in- 
cluded by  the  Romans  in  the  Province  which 
they  called  Galatia. 

Lystra,  barely  eighteen  miles  from  Iconium, 
was  the  city  where  the  Apostles  first  settled. 
It  was,  like  Antioch,  a  Roman  Colony,  so  that 
its  population  contained  a  sprinkling  of 
Romans  (who  formed  a  sort  of  local  aris- 
tocracy) and  some  Hellenes,  together  with  a 
large  number  of  the  old  Lycaonian  natives. 
There  were  also  some  Jews,  though  Luke  does 
not  speak  of  a  synagogue. 

The  history  mentions  in  a  general  way  that 


150   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

at  Iconium  "signs  and  wonders"  were  wrought 
by  the  hands  of  the  Apostles,  and  these  words 
are  confirmed  by  the  allusion  which  Paul 
makes  in  writing  to  the  Galatians,  3:5;  but 
at  Lystra  Luke  describes  in  careful  detail  the 
healing  of  a  lame  man,  which  was  followed  by 
a  great  popular  demonstration.  The  multitude 
(by  which  term  the  historian  seems  to  mean 
the  non-Roman  part  of  the  population  in  this 
Roman  colonial  city)  expressed  in  their  native 
Lycaonian  tongue  the  belief  that  their  visitors 
were  not  mere  men,  but  gods  come  down  from 
heaven  in  human  form ;  and  they  made  prepa- 
rations to  offer  sacrifice  to  their  Divine  visitants. 
In  front  of  Lystra,  which  was  situated  on  a 
hill  in  the  middle  of  a  level  fertile  river  valley, 
was  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  and  the  priest 
brought  oxen  decked  with  garlands  to  the  por- 
tals of  this  temple.  Barnabas,  who  was  the 
more  stately  and  dignified  of  the  two,  was  re- 
garded by  the  populace  as  Jupiter,  while  Paul, 
who  was  the  chief  speaker,  was  worshiped  as 
Mercury,  the  messenger  and  herald  of  the 
chief  god.^     With  difficulty  the  Apostles  re- 

^  An  inscription  recenJy  found  near  Lystra  groups  to- 
gether the  same  two  deities. 


The  Chtirches  of  Galatia  1 5 1 

strained  the  ardor  of  their  votaries,  explain- 
ing that  their  own  aim  was  to  turn  away  the 
Gentiles  from  such  vain  ceremonies  to  the  wor- 
ship of  the  true  God,  who,  after  leaving  man- 
kind in  past  generations  to  walk  in  their  own 
ways,  had  now  sent  His  Apostles  to  proclaim 
His  true  nature  to  the  world. 

Soon,  however,  the  changeable  mob  was 
swayed  to  the  opposite  side  by  Jews  from  An- 
tioch  and  Iconium,  who  excited  a  riot  against 
Paul,  as  the  more  active  of  the  pair,  and  after 
stoning  him  dragged  his  body  out  of  the  city. 
The  stoning  took  place  inside  the  city.  It  was 
a  riotous  act ;  and  the  Jews  who  took  part  in  it 
had  no  scruple  in  profaning  a  pagan  city  by 
such  an  act.  In  the  murder  of  Stephen,  on  the 
contrary,  which  was  done  in  strict  accordance 
with  Jewish  procedure,  though  it  was  in  Roman 
law  an  act  of  riot,  the  sufferer  was  taken  out- 
side of  the  city  before  he  was  stoned.  It  also  de- 
serves notice  how  carefully  Luke  refrains  from 
going  beyond  the  evidence.  He  does  not  say 
that  Paul  was  dead,  but  only  that  the  mob  sup- 
posed him  to  be  dead.  Paul,  however,  was  able 
to  rise  up  and  return  into  Lystra;  and  on  the 
morrow  he  went  with  Barnabas  to  Derbe. 


152    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Nothing  is  recorded  about  the  work  in 
Derbe,  except  a  general  statement  as  to  its  suc- 
cess. From  thence  the  Apostles,  instead  of 
returning  by  the  short  and  direct  road  through 
the  Cilician  Gates  and  Tarsus  to  Syrian  An- 
tioch,  resolved  to  retrace  their  steps  in  order 
to  review  and  confirm  the  Churches  which  they 
had  founded.  From  Lystra  and  Iconium  they 
had  been  driven  by  mob  violence,  and  they  had 
legal  right  to  go  back  at  any  time;  but  from 
Antioch  they  had  been  expelled  by  authority 
of  the  magistrates,  and  it  may  be  thought 
strange  that  they  could  return  to  that  city.  The 
expulsion,  however,  did  not  carry  any  per- 
manent disability;  the  magistrates  had  author- 
ity to  expel  persons  who  seemed  to  be  a  cause 
of  disorder;  but  this  was  only  a  temporary 
measure,  and  the  exiles  could  return  at  a  later 
time  on  the  chance  that  they  might  be  permitted 
to  remain;  and  it  rested  with  the  magistrates 
of  the  year  to  take  cognizance  of  them  or  to 
ignore  them,  as  they  chose. 

The  chief  act  of  the  Apostles  on  their  re- 
turn journey  was  to  provide  for  the  organiza- 
tion and  government  of  the  new  Churches,  and 
now  we  hear  for  the  first  time  of  the  election 


The  Churches  of  G alalia  153 

of  presbyters  by  the  congregation.  The  Greek 
verb  must  imply  this  method  of  appointment, 
though  Paul  and  Barnabas  are  the  subject  of 
the  sentence.  The  officials  are  called  presby- 
ters, i.e.  elders.  In  Jerusalem  it  would  appear 
that  the  presbyters  were  simply  the  older  and 
more  experienced  members  of  the  congregation. 
In  Galatia,  they  were  formally  appointed  offi- 
cials, charged  with  the  duties  of  teaching  and 
administration,  and  apparently  performing  in 
these  new  Churches  similar  duties  to  those 
which  were  performed  in  Jerusalem  by  the 
Twelve  and  the  Seven.  From  Galatia  Paul 
and  Barnabas  crossed  Taurus  (probably  in  a.d. 
48,  certainly  in  the  summer  season)  and  re- 
turned through  Pamphylia  to  Syrian  Antioch, 
having  completed  the  duty  with  which  they 
had  been  charged. 

Thus   Antioch   became   the   Mother-Church 
of  all  Gentile  Churches. 


XXI 

THE    UNION    OF    JEWS   AND    GENTILES 
IN    THE    CHURCH 

Acts  IS  :  1-35  :  Galatians  2  :  11  ff. 

Not  less  than  two  and  a  half  years  can  safely 
be  allowed  for  the  epoch-making  journey  of 
Paul  and  Barnabas,  considering  the  numerous 
cities  where  they  preached,  the  extent  of 
ground  that  they  covered,  and  the  length  of 
time  that  they  stayed  in  Iconium,  and  com- 
paring the  analogy  of  later  journeys.  They 
returned  to  Syrian  Antioch,  at  the  earliest,  in 
the  autumn  of  a.d.  48. 

The  situation  in  the  Church  was  materially 
altered  by  this  journey :  when  the  two  Apostles 
"turned  to  the  Gentiles,"  the  Church  must  like- 
wise do  so.  The  enthusiastic  reception  of  the 
Faith  by  the  Galatians  could  not  be  rejected  or 
denied.  We  may  regard  it  as  almost  certain 
that  already  the  larger  part  of  the  Christian 
Church  was  Gentile.  So  long  as  merely  single 
Gentiles  here  and  there,  like  Cornelius,  had 
154 


The  Union  of  Jews  and  Gentiles    155 

come  into  the  Faith,  the  Jewish  Christians 
might  hope  that  such  converts  would  conform 
to  the  Jewish  Law,  which  was  almost  univer- 
sally observed  in  the  Church,  or  they  might  shut 
their  eyes  to  some  isolated  exceptions  like  Titus. 
Thus  the  Church  would  still  remain  an  essen- 
tially national  institution,  the  perfected  form 
of  Judaism,  into  which  the  Gentiles  were  one 
by  one  admitted.  The  Church  in  Syrian  An- 
tioch  had  begun  to  show  that  the  case  was  not 
so  simple;  and  some  private  harmonious  con- 
versation had  taken  place  on  the  subject  in  a.d. 
45  between  Paul  and  the  Church  leaders  in 
Jerusalem  (as  is  mentioned  in  Gal.  2  :  10).* 
But  only  the  leaders  had  at  that  time  seen  the 
deeper  issues  that  were  involved.  The  Chris- 
tian public  in  Jerusalem  did  not  as  yet  look 
below  the  surface.  Now  the  facts  were  forced 
on  their  notice  by  rumor  from  the  north,  while 
Paul  and  Barnabas  "tarried  no  little  time  with 
the  disciples"  in  Antioch,  i.e.  in  the  year  49. 

It  was  apparently  at  this  time  that  Peter,  in 

his  progress  round  all  the  Churches,  came  to 

Antioch.     (Gal.  2:11).     In  accordance  with 

the  understanding  already  formed  between  the 

*  See  Section  XVII. 


156   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

leaders  and  Paul,  he  did  in  Antioch  as  he  had 
done  in  the  house  of  Cornelius:  he  lived  fa- 
miliarly with  the  Gentile  Christians,  and  ate 
with  them.  But  certain  men  that  came  down 
from  Judea  (''from  James,"  i.e.  officially  sent 
from  the  head  of  the  Judean  Church,  as  is 
stated  in  Gal.  2  :  12),  were  shocked  at  this 
way  of  life;  and  they  stated  plainly  the  view 
which  had  lain  deep  in  the  ordinary  Jewish 
mind  throughout  these  proceedings.  If  the 
Gentiles  were  to  enter  the  Church,  they  must 
comply  with  the  Jewish  Law;  they  could  not 
be  received  straight  from  paganism  into  the 
full  communion  of  the  Church;  there  was  too 
deep  a  chasm  of  thought  and  life  and  morality 
separating  Jews  and  pagans;  "except  they  be 
circumcised  after  the  custom  of  Moses,  they 
cannot  be  saved."  Now  Paul  also  recognized 
the  chasm  that  divided  pagans  from  Jews;  he 
fully  admitted  that  the  pagans  must  rise  to  the 
higher  moral  level  of  the  Jewish  religion,  if 
they  were  to  enter  the  Church;  but  he  main- 
tained that  a  mere  external  ceremony  like  cir- 
cumcision was  immaterial,  and  that  it  was  the 
moral  character  of  the  Mosaic  Law  which  the 
Gentiles   must   put   on   before   they   could   be 


TJie  Union  of  yews  and  Gentiles    157 

saved.  Peter,  however,  was  so  far  influenced 
by  the  Jews  that  he  withdrew  from  familiar 
intercourse  with  the  Gentile  Christians  in  An- 
tioch,  admitting  practically  that  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles could  not  meet  at  the  table  of  the  Lord, 
unless  the  latter  accepted  the  Jewish  rite.  Paul 
rebuked  Peter  for  this  defection,  and  the  issue 
is  not  stated.  But  the  dissension  grew  sharper 
in  Antioch,  and  at  last  it  was  resolved  to  lay 
the  whole  matter  before  the  Apostles  and  the 
Church  in  Jerusalem. 

This  was  an  important  step.  Antioch  ad- 
mitted that  the  unity  of  the  Church  implied  the 
recognition  of  Jerusalem  as  the  authoritative 
centre  of  the  whole  body.  As  before  it  had 
sent  help  in  time  of  famine,  a.d.  44,  so  now  it 
sent  delegates,  Paul  and  Barnabas  and  certain 
others,  to  seek  advice.  The  delegates  were  es- 
corted on  their  way  by  the  Church  of  Antioch, 
whose  sympathies  were  entirely  with  them; 
and  as  they  traversed  Phoenicia  and  Samaria, 
"they  declared  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles," 
causing  great  joy.  A  vastly  wider  movement 
than  the  formation  of  a  Judaistic  Church  was 
imminent,  and  issues  of  world-wide  character 
depended  on  the  decision  in  Jerusalem. 


158   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

When  the  Church  met  to  welcome  the  dele- 
gates, they  described  the  wondrous  success  in 
Galatia  and  the  expectation  of  the  Gentiles;  but 
the  Pharisees  who  had  accepted  the  Faith 
urged  that  all  these  Gentile  converts  must  con- 
form to  the  whole  Mosaic  Law ;  and  the  meet- 
ing was  adjourned  for  further  consideration. 
The  second  meeting  was  long,  and  much  dis- 
cussion took  place,  in  which  the  Antiochian 
delegates  and  their  opponents  stated  the  argu- 
ments on  their  respective  sides.  Luke  describes 
this  debate  in  two  w^ords,  and  hastens  on  to  the 
point  where  Peter  intervened  to  relate  his  own 
experience,  that  God  had  decided  the  case  by 
giving  the  Holy  Spirit  equally  to  Gentiles  and 
to  Jews.  His  speech  produced  a  hush  in  the 
assembly;  and  Barnabas  and  Paul  reinforced 
his  argument  from  the  facts  by  "rehearsing 
what  signs  and  wonders  God  had  wrought 
among  the  Gentiles  by  them." 

After  such  testimony  it  was  recognized  as 
impossible  to  insist  that  the  Mosaic  ceremonial 
was  necessary,  when  the  Spirit  and  power  had 
been  granted  to  multitudes  who  were  cere- 
monially unclean.  God  had  shown  that  the 
mere  ritual  of  the  Law  was  not  a  necessary 


The  Union  of  Jews  and  Gentiles    159 

requirement.  James,  who  evidently  presided 
as  the  recognized  head  of  the  Church,  summed 
up  the  manifest  feehng  of  the  meeting  by  a 
conclusive  speech,  welcoming  the  Gentiles  to 
the  Faith,  setting  aside  for  them  many  of  the 
ceremonial  requirements  of  the  Law,  but  in- 
sisting on  its  moral  demand,  the  prohibition  of 
all  impurity  in  life.  He  also  required,  as  a 
concession  to  Jewish  feeling  and  as  almost  nec- 
essary to  render  free  intercourse  possible  be- 
tween Christian  Jews  and  Gentiles,  that  the 
Gentiles  should  abstain  from  eating  the  meat 
of  animals  that  had  been  sacrificed  to  idols  or 
any  meat  not  fully  freed  from  blood. 

Without  these  conditions  it  was  impossible 
for  social  communion  to  exist  between  Jews 
and  Gentiles,  for  all  Jews  were  bound  to  re- 
frain from  such  meat,  and  if  Gentile  Chris- 
tians placed  it  on  the  table  and  partook  of  it, 
Jewish  Christians  would  be  unable  to  sit  with 
them.  If  these  conditions  were  observed 
James,  strict  Jew  as  he  was,  saw  no  reason 
why  Christians  of  all  nations  should  not  meet 
at  the  common  meal;  and  his  view  was  pub- 
lished as  the  Decree  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of 
the  entire  Church. 


1 60   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

It  seems,  at  first  sight,  strange  to  us  that  one 
moral  condition  of  the  most  fundamental  and 
necessary  kind  should  be  placed  among  the 
ceremonial  conditions,  which,  in  our  view,  are 
of  comparatively  minor  importance.  But 
moral  purity  of  life  was  so  systematically  and 
universally  disregarded  in  even  the  best 
circles  of  paganism  that  the  Christian  teachers 
were  compelled  to  emphasize  its  overwhelming 
importance,  not  merely  by  urging  it  along  with 
the  other  moral  duties  of  life,  but  also  by  pub- 
lishing it  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  Christian 
social  intercourse.  We  may  illustrate  the  po- 
sition from  modern  social  life:  not  merely  do 
we  teach  temperance  as  one  of  the  moral  duties, 
but  also  we  make  it  a  social  principle  that  any 
person  who  is  guilty  of  intemperance  is  ex- 
cluded from  society;  and  the  social  law  is 
more  effective  with  many  persons  than  con- 
siderations of  moral  duty. 

The  decree  of  the  Council  was  an  attempt  to 
combine  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles  permanently 
in  one  Church.  It  was  accepted  by  the  lead- 
ers. It  was  acquiesced  in  at  the  moment  by 
the  rest  of  the  Jewish  Christians,  but  without 
hearty  goodwill.    A  division  grew  up  between 


The  Union  of  Jews  and  Gentiles    1 6 1 

them  and  the  Gentile  Christians.  The  greatest 
Jews,  such  as  Peter  and  John,  turned  their 
attention  more  and  more  to  the  latter.  The 
divergence  of  feeling  in  Jerusalem  led  to  the 
writing  a  few  years  later  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  which  attempted  to  persuade  the  re- 
luctant Jewish  Christians.^  The  difference  of 
sentiment,  however,  was  too  strong.  The 
Jewish  section  of  the  Church  gradually  died 
out  after  a  century.  There  was  then  noth- 
ing to  gain  by  observing  the  ceremonial  pro- 
hibitions of  the  Council,  and  only  the  moral 
side  of  the  Decree  was  enforced  finally  by  the 
Church. 

*We  date  this  Epistle  in  spring,  a.  d.  59,  shortly  be- 
fore Festus  arrived  (Acts  25  :  i)  ;  and  we  understand 
that  it  was  written  with  Paul's  approval  and  after  much 
conversation  with  him,  by  the  head  of  the  Church  in 
Csesarea,  viz.,  Philip. 


XXII 

FAITH   AND   WORKS 

James  2  :  14-26 

The  Epistle  of  James  is  inspired  by  the  de- 
sire to  resist  and  extirpate  certain  faults  that 
became  manifest  in  the  Church  as  it  grew 
stronger  and  acquired  a  large  body  of  ad- 
herents. The  two  opening  chapters  are  di- 
rected largely  against  a  dangerous  misappre- 
hension of  one  of  the  fundamental  principles 
on  which  Paul  insisted  most  strongly.  Chris- 
tianity is  the  religion  of  an  educated  and 
thoughtful  people;  and  only  those  who  rise  to 
the  full  comprehension  of  its  doctrine,  and  who 
steadily  live  more  and  more  intensely,  and 
grow  morally  stronger  as  they  grow  older, 
can  maintain  themselves  on  the  true  level  of  the 
Faith.  The  great  Pauline  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  was  one  which  the  unthinking 
multitude  would  easily  misunderstand  and  mis- 
apply. James  has  to  deal  with  this  misapplica- 
tion. 

162 


Faith  and  Works  163 

His  letter  therefore  belongs  in  point  of  date 
to  a  stage  in  development  following  immedi- 
ately upon  the  preaching  of  Paul.  When 
James  declares  that  **by  works  a  man  is  justi- 
fied, and  not  only  by  faith,"  he  is  not  con- 
tradicting Paul's  statement  that  ''a  man  is  not 
justified  by  the  works  of  the  Law  save  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ" :  he  is  correcting  a  false 
view  as  to  the  meaning  of  Paul's  words.  When 
he  asks  "was  not  our  father  Abraham — was 
not  Rahab — justified  by  works?"  he  is  ex- 
pressing an  apparent,  but  not  a  real,  dissent 
from  Paul  and  from  the  writer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  who  quoted  Abraham  and 
Rahab  as  examples  of  faith.  James  sees  and 
says  emphatically  about  Abraham  "that  faith 
wrought  with  his  works,  and  by  works  was 
faith  made  perfect."  He  saw  that  faith  and 
works  must  go  hand-in-hand,  and  he  protests 
against  the  separation  which  some  had  made 
between  them. 

He  emphasized  the  truth  that  "faith  with- 
out works  is  dead."  But  he  also,  in  the  open- 
ing words  of  his  letter,  lays  the  strongest 
emphasis  on  the  power  of  faith.  "H  any  of  you 
lacketh  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God,  and  it 


164   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

shall  be  given  him:  but  let  him  ask  in  faith, 
doubting  nothing."  He  who  doubts  must  not 
"think  that  he  shall  receive  anything  of  the 
Lord." 

These  passages  show  that  faith  was  to 
James,  as  much  as  to  Paul,  a  fundamental  re- 
quirement in  religion.  To  the  man  who  prays 
without  perfect  faith  God  grants  nothing.  To 
him  who  prays  with  faith  God  grants  even 
wisdom,  the  greatest,  the  highest,  the  most 
difficult  gift  in  human  nature  to  bestow.  He 
to  whom  wisdom  is  granted  has  all  things 
granted  to  him.  It  is  the  poor  men  who  are 
"rich  in  faith  and  heirs  of  the  kingdom"  (2  : 
5).  Having  faith  they  have  salvation.  James, 
therefore,  acknowledges  emphatically  the  su- 
preme power  of  faith;  but  it  is  not  his  purpose 
to  insist  on  this.  Others  had  done  so  suffi- 
ciently, and  James's  slight  allusions  imply  the 
prevalence  and  strength  of  the  doctrine  in  the 
Church. 

But  it  was  easy  to  talk  of  faith,  and  to  mean 
by  it  something  essentially  different  from  what 
Paul  had  in  mind.  To  Paul  faith  implied  a 
change  and  remaking  of  the  whole  nature,  so 
that   the  man   who  believed   must   inevitablv 


Faith  and  Works  165 

carry  his  faith  into  action.  Faith  in  the  Paul- 
ine sense  could  not  exist  without  producing 
what  James  calls  works.  Faith  was  to  Paul 
a  power,  and  not  a  mere  quality  or  character- 
istic. Faith  drove  the  man  on  to  act.  Faith  pos- 
sessed and  ruled  the  man.  '*It  is  no  longer  I 
that  live,  but  Christ  that  liveth  in  me";  every 
man  who  had  true  faith,  and  was  justified  by 
faith,  could  say  for  himself  those  words  of 
Paul:  Christ  lived  and  worked  in  him.  But  it 
was  quite  possible  to  apply  the  words  ''faith" 
and  "belief"  to  a  certain  purely  intellectual  ap- 
preciation of  the  truth,  or  an  appreciation  so 
weak  in  moral  quality  that  it  could  not  remake 
the  man's  nature.  Paul  would  have  refused 
to  acknowledge  such  a  quality  as  deserving 
the  great  name  of  ''faith."  James  saw  that 
people  who  thought  themselves,  and  were 
thought  by  others  to  be,  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  were  making  the  great  mistake 
and  regarding  such  empty  intellectual  belief 
as  "faith";  and  he  perceived  that  it  was  not 
sufficient  to  tell  them  that  this  quality  was  not 
really  "faith."  It  was  necessary  to  be  far  more 
emphatic,  to  denounce  the  error,  and  to  bring 
its  nature  home  to  the  minds  of  his  hearers 


1 66    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

and  readers.  It  was  not,  as  they  thought,  suf- 
ficient for  salvation  to  beheve  that  Jesus  was 
the  Christ.  Nor  was  it,  among  the  vulgar, 
sufficient  even  to  declare  that  true  belief  would 
work  itself  out  in  life  and  action.  Stronger 
emphasis  was  needed  to  penetrate  deaf  ears 
and  dull  or  prejudiced  minds. 

Hence  the  vigorous  and  thorough-going  way 
in  which  James  denounces  the  error.  He 
points  out  that  belief  alone  may  be  perfectly 
right,  and  yet  perfectly  inefficacious.  The 
devils  also  believe  and  tremble;  they  recog- 
nize the  nature  and  divinity  and  power  of 
Jesus,  and  tremble  before  him;  but  they  are 
no  nearer  salvation  on  that  account.  The  only 
safe  rule,  therefore,  for  the  ordinary  man  is 
to  insist  that  faith  without  works  cannot  give 
salvation.  Such  faith  is  not  the  living  and 
transforming  power  that  Paul  preached:  it  is 
dead.  Look  at  the  life  and  the  acts  and  w^orks 
of  every  man,  and  do  not  estimate  him  on  his 
words  and  professions.  If  you  see  a  fellow- 
Christian  in  rags  or  starving,  and  content  your- 
self with  words  of  consolation  and  sympathy, 
such  as  "go  in  peace ;  may  you  be  warmed  and 
fed,"  and  do  not  give  him  what  is  needed  for 


Faith  and  Works  167 

his  physical  comfort,  what  is  the  good  of  your 
faith  and  your  sympathetic  kindly  words  ?  Any 
one,  whether  learned  and  clever  or  plain  and 
simple,  can  see  the  truth  of  this.  Every  one 
whom  you  meet  will  in  practise  make  the  same 
criticism,  and  will  say,  *'You  have  faith,  and  I 
have  works :  I  can  by  my  works  demonstrate 
to  you  my  faith;  but  can  you  show  me  your 
faith  apart  from  your  works :  I  want  some 
proof  of  it?  I  need  something  that  I  can  see 
and  appreciate,  before  I  take  your  faith  as 
real :  I  cannot  take  it  on  credit  merely  because 
you  talk  finely  about  it."  Such  is  the  plain 
fact  of  life.  Such  is  the  rough  practical  sense 
of  the  ordinary  man.  Faith  apart  from  works 
is  barren ;  it  produces  no  good  for  the  Church, 
for  the  neighbors,  or  for  the  man  himself. 

Then  James  appeals  to  examples  which 
would  be  familiar  to  all  Christians.  Abra- 
ham was  the  great  type  of  faith;  he  believed  in 
the  Promise  of  God,  when  all  appearance  and 
probability  was  against  its  fulfilment.  But 
Abraham's  faith  showed  itself  in  act.  He  of- 
fered up  Isaac  his  son  upon  the  altar,  when 
God  seemed  to  ask  it.  His  faith  was  made 
perfect  in  the  actions  of  his  life,  and  hence  his 


1 68  Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

belief  was  reckoned  unto  him  for  righteous- 
ness ;  but  the  faith  alone  without  the  works  in 
which  it  practically  manifested  itself  would  not 
have  justified  him.  So  also  Rahab,  who 
served  as  another  favorite  illustration  of  the 
power  of  faith,  was  justified  not  only  by  faith 
but  by  the  works  in  which  her  faith  made  itself 
effective  and  real. 

James  and  Paul  then  are  in  reality  perfectly 
harmonious;  but  James  warns  the  generation 
which  had  listened  to  Paul  against  a  misinter- 
pretation of  his  teaching. 


XXIII 

WORD  AND  ACT 
fame.':  j  :  1-12 

The  introduction  of  the  custom  of  electtng 
the  Church  officials  by  the  votes  of  the  congre- 
gation was  ahiiost  inevitable  in  the  Hellenic 
Churches.  The  habit  of  self-government  by 
free  popular  voting  was  deeply  engrained  in 
the  Greek  nature,  and  the  Church  followed  the 
national  bent. 

This  seems  to  have  been  a  new  departure  in- 
troduced in  the  Galatian  cities.  In  Palestine 
the  selection  of  a  twelfth  Apostle  to  fill  the 
place  of  Judas  had  been  left  to  the  Divine 
choice  between  two  persons  who  were  put  for- 
ward by  a  procedure  which  is  not  specified; 
and  so  also  the  exact  method  whereby  the 
Seven  were  selected  is  not  described  by  Luke. 
But  in  neither  case  is  there  even  the  slightest 
probability  that  voting  was  the  method  em- 
ployed ;  and  in  the  second  case  the  Greek  word 
which  is  used  makes  that  quite  certain.    Doubt- 

169 


1 70   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

less  in  both  cases  discussion  showed  that  cer- 
tain individuals  had  commended  themselves  by 
their  past  life  to  the  judgment  of  the  best  and 
most  trusted  members  of  the  community. 
Opinions  were  w^eighed,  and  not  counted. 

In  the  Hellenic  cities  the  Greek  method  of 
voting  was  apparently  put  in  practise,  as  the 
Greek  term  (Acts  14  :  23)  probably  shows, 
though  the  English  translation  hides  the  nature 
of  the  process.  The  free  voting  stimulated 
public  interest,  and  without  it  the  spark  of  life 
could  not  easily  have  been  kept  effective  in  a 
congregation  of  Hellenes.  The  free  Hellenic 
education  and  custom  tended  this  way,  count- 
ing all  men  equal. 

Serious  dangers,  however,  were  involved  in 
this  kind  of  action.  The  method  implied  can- 
didature; and  with  candidature  came  rivalry; 
and  out  of  rivalry  sprang  jealousy,  quarrels, 
factions,  and  divisions.  The  rival  candidates 
had  their  supporters  and  partisans;  and  elec- 
tions of  Church  officials  became  disfigured  by 
strife.  Paul  alludes  to  these  evils,  and  warns 
both  the  Galatians  and  the  Corinthians  against 
them. 

James  was   also  aware  of  this   feature  of 


Word  and  Act  1 7 1 

Church  life;  but  the  aspect  of  it  which  most 
offended  him  was  the  eagerness  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  congregations  in  the  West  to  speak 
and  teach  in  pubhc.  All  were  eager  to  teach: 
few  were  ready  to  listen  and  to  be  taught.  All 
were  eager  to  recommend  themselves  to  the 
public.  Too  many  had  an  eye  to  future  office, 
and  were  preparing  for  their  candidature  here- 
after by  keeping  themselves  well  before  the 
eyes  of  the  congregation.  That  is  the  fault 
most  characteristic  of  the  Greek  character 
throughout  history;  as  a  race  they  are  fluent, 
talkative,  fond  of  ostentation,  and  generally 
devoid  of  reticence  and  deficient  in  dignity; 
and  that  side  of  their  nature  was  specially  of- 
fensive to  the  graver  mind  of  a  Jew  like  James. 
Hence  the  burden  of  his  advice  to  his  read- 
ers is  that  they  be  swift  to  hear  and  slow  to 
speak  (i  :  19)  ;  and  he  now  devotes  a  weighty 
paragraph  to  warn  them  against  their  besetting 
fault.  They  should  not  be  eager  for  the  official 
position  of  a  teacher,  and  they  should  not  be 
desirous  to  show  off  their  powers  as  teachers 
unofficially.  If  the  teacher  has  more  influence 
and  receives  more  respect  and  even  pay,  more 
is  expected  of  him  and  he  is  judged  more  se- 


172    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

verely.  We  all  make  mistakes,  we  all  stumble, 
both  teachers  and  pupils;  but  the  teacher  is 
more  harshly  criticized,  while  the  hearers  are 
not  condemned  so  readily. 

The  only  duty  of  the  Church  officials  which 
James  alludes  to  is  that  of  teaching.  The 
Epistle  belongs  to  a  very  early  period,  when 
Church  doctrine  and  service  were  very  sim- 
ple, and  when  the  duty  of  teaching,  both  in  the 
conversion  of  the  pagans  and  in  the  instruction 
of  the  converts,  completely  outweighed  the 
other  functions  of  the  officials  in  the  congre- 
gation. On  the  other  hand  the  letter  is  later 
than  the  formation  of  the  Pauline  Churches, 
and  has  in  view  the  faults  that  were  charac- 
teristic of  those  congregations,  and  not  the 
faults  to  which  the  older  Palestinian  Churches 
were  most  prone.  We  can,  then,  hardly  doubt 
that  James  was  addressing  the  new  Churches 
of  the  West.  When  he  calls  them  ''the  twelve 
Tribes  which  are  of  the  Dispersion,"  he  is 
speaking  from  the  point  of  view  which  might 
be  expected,  and  which  is  peculiarly  charac- 
teristic of  his  school  and  his  period.  He 
had  joined  with  Peter  and  with  John  in  ap- 
proving the  action  and  mission  of  Paul.     He 


Word  and  Act  1 73 

welcomed  the  Gentiles  into  the  Church.  He 
was  ready  to  accept  them  on  the  same  level 
as  the  Jews  in  the  Christian  unity.  But  he  still 
regarded  the  Gentile  Christians  as  persons  who 
were  received  into  the  Jewish  pale.  The 
Church  was  the  kingdom  of  God;  but  it  was 
a  Jewish  kingdom,  which  drew  all  nations  unto 
it,  and  the  Gentiles  became  "the  twelve  Tribes 
wdiich  are  in  the  world  outside  of  Palestine." 
By  an  easy  transition  James  passes  from  the 
general  idea  of  stumbling  to  the  particular 
form  in  which  stumbling  is  most  common  and 
easy.  'Tf  any  man  stumbleth  not  in  word,  the 
same  is  a  perfect  man,  able  to  bridle  the  whole 
body  also."  The  hasty,  idle  and  foolish  word 
was  the  most  difficult  thing  for  these  Greek 
Christians  to  avoid,  and  it  was  the  beginning 
of  many  dangerous  evils.  It  is  a  small  and 
slight  thing  in  itself,  but  it  may  determine  the 
direction  of  the  whole  life,  as  the  bridle  and 
bit  in  the  horse's  mouth,  or  the  small  rudder 
in  the  great  ship,  determines  the  whole  course 
of  each.  The  tongue  of  a  man,  small  as  it  is, 
utters  great  and  swelling  words,  and  drives  him 
on  to  important  issues  in  action,  which  he  had 
not  thought  of  when  he  began  to  talk.     It  is 


1 74   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

like  a  fire  which  spreads  through  the  whole 
course  and  order  of  nature;  but  the  fire  is 
originally  kindled  from  hell,  and  the  hasty- 
word  is  suggested  by  the  devil.  The  tongue 
is  the  one  thing  in  the  whole  world  that  has 
never  been  tamed ;  birds  and  beasts,  reptiles  and 
fishes,  have  all  been  tamed  by  man,  and  em- 
ployed for  his  use  or  his  pleasure;  ''but  the 
tongue  can  no  man  tame." 

Its  unreasonableness,  too,  and  its  double  na- 
ture, are  shown  by  the  fact  that  it  utters  both 
blessings  and  curses.  This  ought  not  to  be  so ; 
it  is  utterly  unnatural,  and  there  is  nothing 
similar  to  it  in  the  whole  universe.  Everything 
else  is  and  does  and  produces  after  its  kind. 
The  fountain  gives  either  sweet  water  or  bit- 
ter, but  never  both.  The  fig-tree  produces  only 
figs,  and  men  never  gather  olives  from  a  vine. 
But  the  tongue  is  the  one  unnatural,  incompre- 
hensible, double-natured  thing.  We  cannot 
tell  what  it  will  say:  we  cannot  predict,  as  a 
man  is  opening  his  mouth,  whether  good  words 
or  bad,  whether  wise  words  or  foolish,  will 
come  forth.  Still  less  can  we  forecast  what 
crime  and  misery  may  issue  from  the  foolish 
and  thoughtless  word  which  the  tongue  utters. 


XXIV 

THE  NATURE  AND  POWER  OF  FAITH 
Hebrews  ii  :  i-jo 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was  written,  as 
we  think,  in  early  summer,  a.d.  59,  towards  the 
conclusion  of  Paul's  imprisonment  in  Caesarea. 
It  was  composed  by  some  person  who  was  in 
close  relation  and  frequent  communication  with 
the  prisoner;  and  its  intention  was  to  recom- 
mend the  latter's  views  to  the  mass  of  the  Jew- 
ish Christians  in  Jerusalem,  who  were  suspi- 
cious of  him  and  inclined  to  dislike  his  bold 
Gentile  teaching.  The  author  does  not  directly 
explain  or  defend  Paul.  He  expounds  the  re- 
ligious situation,  and  leads  his  readers  to  a 
point  of  view  from  which  they  might  under- 
stand Paul  better. 

The  leaders  in  Jerusalem  were  in  sympathy 
with  Paul,  as  he  and  Luke  both  tell  us;  and 
this  Epistle  distinguishes  between  the  leaders 
and  the  mass  of  the  Church,  and  addresses  it- 
self to  the  latter.    The  writer  was  in  full  ac- 

175 


176    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

cord  with  Paul,  but  expresses  his  own  opin- 
ions after  his  own  fashion,  which  is  markedly 
different  from  the  Pauline  fashion.  In  this 
chapter,  by  words  and  examples  which  would 
be  most  easily  intelligible  to  his  Jewish  read- 
ers, he  explains  the  way  in  which  he  under- 
stands Paul's  fundamental  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation by  faith. 

What  the  Christian  hopes  for,  what  is  prom- 
ised to  him,  is  not  given  to  him  at  the  present 
moment,  and  is  not  anything  that  he  can  see  or 
hold  in  his  hands;  but  through  faith  he  feels 
assured  and  firmly  convinced  that  his  hope  will 
be  given  to  him  in  due  season.  The  men  of 
older  time  are  recorded  in  the  Scriptures  as 
patterns  to  all  Christians,  because  they  had 
faith  and  through  faith  believed  that  the  Prom- 
ise would  be  fulfilled  to  Israel,  though  they 
never  saw  its  fulfilment.  We,  by  faith,  be- 
lieve that  God  created  the  material  world  out  of 
an  immaterial  origin,  though  we  can  never  act- 
ually see  or  know  how  the  creative  act  was  per- 
formed. 

Some  of  the  examples  of  faith,  which  are 
selected  from  old  Hebrew  history,  seem  to  de- 
pend on  the  Jewish  tradition,  which  told  more 


The  Nature  and  Power  of  Faith     i  "]*] 

than  is  recorded  in  the  Scriptures.  We  do  not 
easily  understand  from  Genesis  how  Abel  and 
Enoch  are  examples  of  faith:  the  references 
to  them  in  that  book  are  too  slight.  In  some 
way  that  is  not  recorded  Abel's  sacrifice  was  a 
proof  of  his  faith,  and  was  on  that  account 
accepted.  Similarly,  the  translation  of  Enoch 
proved  his  faith;  and  the  writer  feels  in  this 
case  that  he  must  explain.  Enoch  had  believed 
that  God  really  is,  and  that  God  rewards  those 
who  seek  after  him.  Now  paganism  and  idol- 
atry in  all  forms  are  inconsistent  with  faith, 
because  they  contain  a  false  idea  of  God.  The 
pagan  does  not  know  what  is  the  nature  of 
God;  he  either  is  afraid  of  his  God,  and  seeks 
to  propitiate  the  anger  of  the  deity,  and  pre- 
vent the  Divine  power  from  doing  him  harm, 
or  he  tries  to  make  a  bargain,  promising  cer- 
tain gifts  in  return,  if  his  God  helps  him.  Such 
were  the  ideas  of  pagan  worship;  and  they  are 
inconsistent  with  faith.  But  Enoch  had  risen 
above  the  ideas  of  paganism,  and  attained  to  a 
true  conception  of  the  nature  and  kindness  of 
God,  and  his  faith  in  God  had  its  reward. 

Noah,  when  all  others  disbelieved,  had  faith 
that  that  which  was  told  him  would  happen; 


178    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

and  he  prepared  the  ark  to  save  himself  and 
his  household  from  an  unseen  and  future  dan- 
ger. His  faith  in  the  coming  punishment  of 
crime  condemned  those  who  would  not  believe 
that  crime  should  be  punished. 

Abraham,  when  he  was  bidden  to  go  away 
into  a  strange  land  and  leave  his  own  people, 
had  faith  that  good  would  result  from  his  obe- 
dience, and  that  the  Promise  would  be  fulfilled 
in  a  distant  future.  Hence  he  became  a  wan- 
derer in  a  strange  land,  a  mere  nomad,  yet 
he  had  faith  that  a  divinely  built  city  would  be 
given  to  his  descendants.  He  firmly  believed 
that  his  posterity  would  be  numerous  as  the 
sand  and  the  stars,  although  he  and  his  wife 
Sarah  were  childless  until  extreme  old  age; 
and  then,  when  his  only  son  was  still  young, 
he  was  ready  to  sacrifice  him  at  the  command 
of  God.  Isaac  and  Jacob,  on  their  deathbeds, 
blessed  their  sons,  and  with  the  confidence  of 
faith  promised  them  future  happiness,  as  yet 
unrealized.  Joseph  showed  faith  in  the  future 
deliverance  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  and  ordered 
that  his  bones  should  be  carried  out  when  his 
people  were  sent  forth.  The  whole  history  of 
Moses  shows  the  triumph  of  faith.     At  every 


The  Nature  and  Power  of  Faith     179 

stage  his  parents  and  himself  and  the  people 
whom  he  led  took  great  risks,  and  preferred 
the  future  to  the  present,  trusting  to  the  words 
of  a  Promise  in  spite  of  the  dangers  and  diffi- 
culties involved  in  this  belief.  So  even  Rahab, 
an  alien,  a  Gentile,  a  pagan  and  a  sinner,  was 
saved  by  her  firm  confidence  that  the  true  God 
was  fighting  against  her  people. 

These  heroes  of  old  all  died  without  seeing 
their  faith  justified  and  their  hopes  realized 
(verses  13-16).  Christ  was  not  to  come  in 
their  time;  but  by  their  faith  they  anticipated 
His  coming,  and  He  became  a  real  possession 
to  them.  They  said  plainly  that  they  were 
mere  travelers  and  strangers  in  the  world,  and 
this  proved  that  they  regarded  a  heavenly  coun- 
try as  their  own,  and  that  they  lived  in  the 
confident  hope  of  coming  at  last  into  their  own 
land  and  their  true  home. 

In  this  way  one  might  go  through  the  whole 
of  Hebrew  history,  quoting  from  every  page 
examples  of  faith.  Every  deed  of  heroism  was 
done  through  the  strength  which  faith  gives. 
Every  case  in  which  persecution  was  nobly  en- 
dured was  a  triumph  of  faith.  Gideon,  Barak, 
Samson,  Jephthah,  David,  Samuel,  the  great 


1 80   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

prophets  of  Israel — all  furnish  examples  of 
faith.  The  victories  of  the  Hebrews  in  war 
were  gained  by  faith,  often  against  overwhelm- 
ing numbers.  In  the  book  of  Daniel  we  hear 
that  the  prophet  was  unharmed  by  the  lions, 
and  the  three  Hebrew  children  by  the  fire. 
Their  faith  saved  them.  To  mothers  who  had 
faith  their  dead  sons  were  given  back.  The 
sufferings  and  tortures  which  heroes  and  hero- 
ines of  Israel  endured  were  numberless  and  ter- 
rible. They  were  killed  by  the  most  painful 
lingering  tortures.  They  were  fugitives,  skulk- 
ing in  caves,  or  wandering  in  deserts.  It  was 
through  faith  that  they  endured. 

Yet  all  of  these  glorious  models  and  patterns 
believed  in  that  which  was  unseen  and  un- 
known. They  never  in  life  received  the  Prom- 
ise. The  completion  and  perfection  of  their 
hope  lay  among  us,  who  have  known  the  Com- 
ing of  the  Christ.  They  had  to  wait  until  our 
time  for  the  realization  of  their  faith.  We  are 
the  happy  ones,  in  whose  time  this  realization 
has  taken  place.  Surely,  when  we  contemplate 
the  history  of  our  own  Hebrew  race,  and  ob- 
serve so  many  Avitnesses  testifying  by  their 
life  to  the  power  of  faith,  we  cannot  but  be 


The  Nature  and  Power  of  Faith    1 8 1 

convinced,  and  live  the  life  of  truth,  and  follow 
the  example  of  Jesus  in  perfect  confidence. 
We  must  have  faith  in  what  is  still  unseen  and 
future.  We  have  to  believe  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  and  in  the  second  Coming  of  Jesus. 
We  must  have  faith  also  in  what  is  past  and 
can  no  longer  be  seen,  the  life  and  the  death 
of  Jesus  on  our  behalf.  By  belief  in  these, 
they  become  real  for  us,  and  they  make  part 
of  our  life  and  nature. 

The  whole  argument  proceeds  from  a  Jew 
to  Jews.  The  author  pleads  with  his  own 
brethren  and  identifies  himself  with  their  case. 
His  object  is  not  such  a  trivial  one  as  merely 
to  prove  that  Paul  was  right.  Paul  himself 
had  no  desire  for  that.  He  is  preaching  the 
Gospel  of  Paul  from  his  own  point  of  view 
and  in  his  own  way,  eager  to  make  his  brothers 
in  Israel  feel  themselves  truly  his  brothers  in 
Christ. 


XXV 

CHRISTIANITY    GIVING   VITALITY   TO 
THE    ANCIENT    CIVILIZATION 

Review :  Acts  lo-is 

In  Section  XIII  a  review  was  given  of  the 
growth  of  the  primitive  Church  in  Jerusalem, 
and  of  its  diffusion  over  the  Jewish  and  semi- 
Jewish  population  in  the  towns  of  Palestine. 
For  a  short  time  it  appeared  to  the  human  eye 
as  if  the  young  Church  was  to  settle  down  into 
a  mere  sect — strict  and  advanced  in  tone,  but 
still  a  mere  sect — of  Judaism.  This  was  due  to 
the  natural,  but  too  narrow,  idea  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  was  to  have  Jerusalem  as  its  cen- 
ter, and  that  the  whole  world  was  to  conform 
to  the  Jewish  Law,  and  thus  enter  into  fellow- 
ship with  Christ.  Stephen  shattered  this  idea, 
and  the  Church  as  a  whole  accepted  his  views. 
The  persecution  that  broke  out  after  his  death 
scattered  the  first  Christians — known  afterward 
as  "the  ancient  disciples"  (Acts  21  :  16) — and 
caused  a  wide  dissemination  of  the  new  Faith. 
182 


Christianity  Giving  Vitality        183 

The  doctrine  of  Stephen,  in  all  that  it  im- 
plied, was  not  at  first  fully  understood  even  by 
the  leaders  like  Peter.  Philip,  one  of  the 
Seven,  took  the  first  step  in  widening  the  re- 
ligious circle.  Then  Peter  was  warned  in  a 
vision  that  he  should  not  call  any  man  common 
or  unclean,  but  that  in  every  nation  he  that 
feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  ac- 
ceptable to  Him.  After  some  dissension  and 
discussion  the  Church  in  Jerusalem  approved 
of  Peter's  action  in  admitting  the  Roman  Cor- 
nelius as  a  member  of  the  Universal  Church, 
even  though  he  had  not  conformed  fully  to  the 
Jewish  Law.  By  this  action  of  the  Church 
Peter's  conduct  in  eating  with  Cornelius  was 
tacitly  condoned,  though  subsequent  events 
showed  that  it  was  not  really  approved  by  the 
mass  of  the  Jewish  Christians,  who  acquiesced 
outwardly  in  the  action  of  their  leaders,  but 
inwardly  were  far  from  being  reconciled  to 
the  free  admission  of  Gentiles  into  the  Church. 

The  whole  question  was  opened  up  in  an 
acute  form  after  the  foundation  of  the  first 
Gentile  Church  at  Antioch.  Luke  does  not  ex- 
pressly say  whether  the  Gentile  members  com- 
plied with  the  Jewish  Law;  but  he  apparently 


1 84    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

assumes  that  his  readers  were  aware  that 
neither  Cornehus  nor  the  Antiochian  Greek 
Christians  did  so;  and  Paul,  in  writing  to  the 
Galatians,  asserts  this  about  Titus.  The  whole 
history  of  the  period  shows  that  the  Jewish 
Law  was  not  accepted  in  its  entirety  as  binding 
in  the  Antiochian  Church.  But,  although  the 
Greeks  of  Antioch  continued  to  be  ceremo- 
nially unclean,  it  was  not  until  a  later  stage 
that  the  question  whether  a  Jew  could  lawfully 
associate  with  them  was  formally  raised;  and 
the  circumstances  prove  that  the  earlier  Jewish 
leaders  in  Antioch  mixed  freely  with  the 
Greeks.  It  may  be  presumed  that  the  diffi- 
culty about  meat  was  solved  by  them  in  the 
same  way  as  was  afterwards  approved  by  the 
Apostolic  Council. 

Before  the  question  was  raised,  another  step 
had  been  made.  The  new  Gentile  Church  in 
its  turn  began  to  send  forth  missionaries  on  its 
own  authority,  and  thus  to  assert  its  recogni- 
tion of  the  duty  imposed  on  all  Christians  to 
educate,  to  Christianize,  and  to  civilize  the 
world.  Thus  the  journey  of  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas was  commissioned  directly  and  solely  from 
Antioch,  so  far  as  it  had  any  earthly  origin. 


Christianity  Giving  Vitality        185 

Paul  himself  always  asserted  that  he  had  no 
commission  or  charge  from  the  older  Church 
of  Jerusalem  and  its  leaders.  The  action  of 
the  Antiochian  Church  in  sending  out  the  two 
missionaries  was  ordered  by  the  Holy  Spirit; 
and  this  Church  might  say  with  as  much  jus- 
tice as  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  in  the  Decree 
of  the  Apostolic  Council:  ''it  seemed  good  to 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  to  us." 

The  absolute  independence  and  equality  be- 
fore Heaven  of  the  new  Church  in  Antioch 
was  thus  clearly  and  emphatically  expressed. 
In  this  there  was  a  danger,  which  might  easily 
have  become  real  and  serious,  but  which  was 
averted  by  the  wisdom  and  faith  of  the  Anti- 
ochian leaders.  This  danger  was  that,  in  the 
assertion  of  its  independence,  Antioch  might 
separate  itself  from  Jerusalem,  and  thus  break 
up  the  unity  of  the  infant  Church.  Any  pride 
or  arrogance  or  too  strong  self-confidence  in 
Antioch,  any  emphatic  resolve  to  assert  its  own 
rights,  would  have  caused  this  result.  The 
manner  in  which  it  was  avoided  is  instructive 
as  an  example  of  the  combination  of  practical 
sense,  lively  sympathy  with  distress,  and  readi- 
ness to  hear  the  Divine  voice  and  obey  it.    To 


I S6   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

all  who  believe  in  the  Divine  guidance  and 
eagerly  desire  to  follow  it,  the  Divine  voice  will 
make  itself  audible.  Charity  to  the  poor, 
strong  sense  of  brotherhood  amid  diversity, 
and  recognition  of  the  just  claim  of  their  dis- 
tant brethren  to  be  consulted  on  great  questions, 
so  that  there  should  be  a  uniform  spirit  and 
tone  in  their  policy,  dictated  the  action  of  the 
Antiochian  Church,  and  cemented  the  unity  of 
the  Universal  Church. 

The  two  most  important  steps,  as  recorded 
by  Luke,  in  this  epoch-making  period,  on  which 
the  whole  future  history  of  the  Christian  Faith 
and  the  sense  of  brotherhood  in  the  entire 
Church  depended,  were  the  unasked  sending  of 
help  to  Jerusalem  in  view  of  the  coming  fam- 
ine, and  the  consultation  of  the  Apostles  and 
Elders  in  Jerusalem  about  the  relation  between 
Jews  and  Gentiles  in  the  Church.  The  mean- 
ing and  importance  of  each  of  those  steps  has 
already  been  described.  Here  we  have  only 
to  make  four  remarks : — 

I.  Luke  does  not  attribute  this  wise  action 
of  the  Church  leaders  to  any  preconceived  plan. 
He  makes  it  clear  at  every  stage  that  the  lead- 
ers were  not  working  out  any  carefully  formed 


Christianity  Giving  Vitality       187 

scheme  of  their  own.  Each  step  was  taken  un- 
der the  coercion  of  external  circumstances. 
Sometimes  a  previously  unimportant  and  little- 
known  person  made  the  new  step.  Sometimes 
persons  standing  wholly  outside  the  Church, 
by  persecution  or  otherwise,  caused  a  new  de- 
parture of  great  historical  significance. 

2.  The  leaders  were  always  ready  to  learn 
from  each  new  situation,  and  from  any  per- 
son, and  to  take  up  an  idea  new  to  them. 

3.  The  real  moving  power  throughout  was 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  profound  belief  in  its 
guidance  was  the  one  principle,  according  to 
Luke,  which  the  leaders  had  in  mind.  To  fol- 
low this  guidance  was,  to  them  and  to  their 
historian,  true  statesmanship.  They  saw  one 
idea  always  before  them,  the  Death  and  the 
Resurrection  of  Jesus;  and  this  triumph  of  life 
over  death  was  their  message  to  the  pagan 
world. 

4.  It  is  impossible  to  express  too  strongly 
the  deep  significance  of  the  change  which  took 
place  between  a.d.  2,2  and  48.  The  attitude  of 
the  Church  was  turned  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. Instead  of  seeking  to  bring  the  Gentiles 
into  conformity  with  Judaism,  it  had  now  to. 


1 88    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

face  a  totally  different  problem;  was  it  possi- 
ble to  retain  the  Jews  within  its  bounds  ?  The 
Gentiles,  the  teeming  population  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  were  pouring  into  the  Church,  and 
threatening  to  drown  out  Judaism.  Their 
overwhelming  numbers  were  irresistible. 
Their  eagerness  was  the  most  marked  feature 
of  the  situation.  Paul  was  deeply  impressed 
in  Galatia  with  this  ardor  of  the  Gentiles;  and 
though  perhaps  the  eagerness  was  hardly  so 
great  elsewhere,  yet  in  every  province  of  the 
Empire  and  in  every  city  it  was  very  strong. 
The  civilized  world  was  eager  for  the  peace 
and  the  promise  of  the  new  Faith.  The  fields 
were  ripe  for  the  harvest.  The  fullness  of 
time  was  come ;  and  at  that  moment  the  Divine 
power  made  itself  manifest.  The  Christian  re- 
ligion came  in  to  cement  the  unity  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  to  preserve  the  ancient  civiliza- 
tion and  law  in  its  best  features  for  modern 
men,  and  to  strengthen  the  Empire  for  the 
struggle  against  destruction  by  the  barbarians. 
In  the  never-ending  war  between  civilization 
and  barbarism,  between  light  and  darkness,  it 
had  for  a  time  seemed  that  the  victory  must 
be  with  the  powers  of  evil,  for  civilization  itself 


Christianity  Giving  Vitality       189 

had  grown  weak  with  corruption ;  but  the  new 
Faith  gave  Hfe  and  sweetness  to  the  decay  of 
the  ancient  world. 

The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  was  the  saving 
element  in  the  ancient  pagan  world.  But  in 
this  change  what  was  to  become  of  the  little 
people  of  the  Jews?  They  held  aloof  except 
the  leaders,  and  as  time  passed  they  became 
more  and  more  aloof;  they  shrank  into  their 
own  retirement,  and  refused  to  be  merged  in 
the  great  world.  The  attempt  made  at  the 
Apostolic  Council  to  effect  a  modus  vivendi 
between  the  two  elements  in  the  Church  was 
unsuccessful  in  reconciling  the  mass  of  the 
Jewish  Christians  to  their  Gentile  brethren. 


XXVI 

THE  MOTIVE  POWER  OF  LIFE 

Ro7nafis  ij  :  1-14 

We  have  ^een  how  James  explained  in  sim- 
ple words  and  through  examples  drawn  from 
past  history,  his  view  of  the  nature  and  prac- 
tical effect  of  faith.  Paul  in  writing  to  the 
Romans  states  in  the  language  of  the  deepest 
and  most  philosophic  religious  thought  his  own 
conception  of  faith.  James  emphasized  the 
plain  practical  fact  that  the  faith  which  does 
not  work  itself  out  in  the  life  and  conduct  of  a 
man  is  dead.  Paul,  while  apparently  exalting 
faith  and  depreciating  works,  was  thinking  of 
the  works  that  are  done  because  a  formal  law 
commands  them.  He  conceived  faith  as  an  in- 
tense and  burning  enthusiasm  inspired  through 
overpowering  belief  in  and  realization  of  the 
nature  of  Jesus — an  enthusiasm  which  drives 
on  the  man  in  whose  soul  it  reigns  to  live  the 
life  of  Jesus.  This  overmastering  faith  makes 
the  man's  life,  and  shows  itself  in  every  act  that 
190 


The  Motive  Power  of  Life         191 

he  does.  But  his  works  are  not  done  through 
an  external  command,  because  the  Law  bids 
him  do  them.  They  are  the  way  in  which  his 
soul  expresses  itself.  They  are  his  life :  it  is 
no  longer  he  himself,  as  a  human  being  dis- 
tinguishable from  his  faith,  that  lives.  The 
faith  that  is  in  him  is  the  one  thing  that  lives 
and  acts. 

From  a  different  point  of  view  this  faith 
which  possesses  the  man  and  lives  in  him  may 
be  described  as  love.  Faith  in  Jesus  is  an  in- 
tense and  supreme  love  for  God,  for  all  that  God 
has  made,  and  for  all  that  is  like  God.  The 
one  supreme  duty,  the  one  thing  that  we  owe 
to  all  other  men,  i.e.  what  we  owe  our  neighbor, 
is  love.  It  is  easy  to  pay  to  our  neighbor  all 
the  ordinary  debts  of  life,  all  the  debts  that 
law  recognizes  and  enforces;  but  there  is  one 
thing  which  is  always  due  from  us  to  all  men, 
one  thing  which  we  can  never  pay  completely, 
one  debt  that  always  remains  still  to  be  sat- 
isfied, and  that  is  the  love  which  we  are  bound 
to  feel  and  show  towards  them. 

This  duty  sums  up  and  comprises  in  itself 
the  entire  law  of  conduct  towards  other  men. 
He  that  has  in  his  soul  the  true  faith,  or  in 


192    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

other  words  the  real  love,  has  fulfilled  the 
whole  law,  and  much  more  than  the  whole  law. 
The  law,  being  a  positive  and  external  com.- 
mand,  or  series  of  commands,  cannot  do  more 
than  state  a  number  of  details  "thou  shalt  not 
steal,"  "thou  shalt  not  commit  murder,"  and 
so  on.  But  no  such  enumeration  of  details 
can  ever  be  complete ;  it  must  always  fall  short 
of  the  vast  fullness  and  complicated  relations 
of  life.  One  may  in  a  sense  fulfil  all  those 
positive  enactments,  one  by  one,  and  yet  fall 
hopelessly  short  of  real  goodness.  Moreover, 
in  the  multitude  of  details,  the  man  who  is 
striving  merely  to  obey  the  law  that  orders 
each  action  becomes  befogged,  and  wanders 
from  the  true  path.  The  details  often  seem  to 
conflict  with  one  another;  questions  of  casuis- 
try arise,  and  the  law  is  not  a  clear  enough 
guide.  No  one  can  be  justified  merely  by  do- 
ing the  works  of  the  law.  The  one  true  guide 
is  the  spirit  of  love  and  faith  burning  in  his 
heart,  impelling  him  to  act,  and  showing  him 
in  each  case  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it. 

There  is  another  strong  motive  which  should 
impel  mankind  to  an  active  and  strenuous  life. 
The  Day  of  Judgment  and  the  Coming  of  the 


The  Motive  Power  of  Life         193 

Lord  are  at  hand.  Every  man  should  Hve  in 
expectation.  That  day  is  nearer  than  it  was. 
Each  day  spent  is  a  day  nearer  the  end.  Life 
is  not  a  time  for  skiggishness  and  sleep.  In 
the  darkness  of  night,  sleep  is  permissible ;  but 
the  night  is  now  near  an  end,  and  the  light  of 
day  is  about  to  begin. 

Paul's  words  when  he  refers  to  this  subject 
are  always  mystic  and  obscure — not  that  there 
is  really  any  obscurity  in  them,  but  that  he  has 
to  express  in  human  thought,  which  is  condi- 
tioned by  time,  the  idea  of  eternity  which  stands 
above  and  outside  of  and  apart  from  time. 
That  which  is  real  and  eternal  must  necessarily 
stand  very  close  to  us.  Human  nature  is  tem- 
porary, evanescent,  and  unreal;  it  is  here  for 
a  moment  or  an  hour,  and  then  it  passes  away ; 
and  yet  it  has  a  hold  upon  and  a  share  in  what 
is  fixed  and  eternal.  But  the  eternal  does  not 
come  after  the  temporary;  it  does  not  begin 
when  that  which  is  evanescent  ends;  it  is  the 
real  truth  present  in  and  underlying  the  change- 
able and  unreal.  Because  it  is  real  and  eternal 
it  is  close  at  hand ;  it  is  here  and  now.  But  in- 
asmuch as  man's  nature  is  imperfect,  and  be- 
cause even  the  good  man  who  is  justified  is 


194   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

still  only  straining  after  the  truth,  and  strug- 
gling to  reach  what  is  beyond  him,  therefore 
the  eternal  and  the  real  is  apart  from  him,  dis- 
tant and  hidden  in  the  future. 

Hence  arises  the  apparent  contradiction  be- 
tween Paul's  language  at  different  times  with 
regard  to  the  Coming  of  the  Lord.  Sometimes 
he  emphasizes  its  nearness,  when  he  desires  to 
impress  on  people  that  it  is  certain  and  inevit- 
able, and  that  every  man  must  face  it  himself 
and  ought  to  live  in  continual  view  of  it.  At 
other  times,  he  has  to  remind  them  that  many 
things  must  happen  before  the  Lord  comes, 
that  the  history  of  the  world  must  continue 
and  reach  another  stage  in  the  development  of 
the  will  and  purpose  of  God  as  a  preliminary. 
In  the  present  chapter  Paul's  object  is  to  make 
the  great  and  final  issue  an  incentive  to  im- 
mediate activity.  That  is  what  we  have  to 
live  for,  and  we  must  live  for  it  here  and  now, 
not  begin  to  do  so  at  some  future  time. 

He  employs  here  another  kind  of  metaphor 
(which  Is  one  of  his  favorite  forms  of  expres- 
sion) :  the  actions  of  a  man's  life  are  the  dress 
which  he  wears.  Li  the  dark  night,  when  one 
is  free  to  live  idle  and  to  sleep,  one  wears  the 


The  Motive  Power  of  Life         195 

loose  and  easy  garments  that  are  suited  for 
sleeping.  But  in  the  day  one  must  put  on  other 
garments,  suited  for  active  life  in  the  open. 
With  this  is  worked  in  yet  another  metaphor. 
The  life  of  the  Christian  is  a  continuous  war- 
fare against  evil  and  wrong.  The  true  Chris- 
tian is  a  soldier,  and  he  must  wear  the  garb  of 
a  soldier,  the  offensive  and  defensive  armor 
with  which  all  soldiers  in  that  age,  Roman  or 
Greek  or  barbarian,  were  equipped.  We  must 
recognize,  therefore,  that  day  is  now  beginning, 
and  we  must  put  on  the  armor  that  becomes  us 
to  wear  in  the  light  of  day. 

Then  in  simpler  words,  and  in  another 
metaphor,  Paul  describes  life  as  a  walk.  Since 
we  are  going  about  in  the  full  light  of  day, 
there  must  be  no  pretense  and  no  sham:  "let 
us  walk  honestly  as  in  the  day."  Even  the 
pagans  of  the  world  reserve  their  worst  faults 
of  personal  conduct  for  the  evening  and  the 
night.  The  revel  at  nightfall  is  accompanied 
by  drinking,  and  leads  on  to  vicious  indulgence. 
Nothing  of  this  can  fill  any  part  of  the  Chris- 
tian's life.  In  the  day  the  life  of  the  pagan  is 
guided  by  jealousy  against  his  neighbor  and 
competition  with  his  rival.     This  also  is  unfit 


1 96    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

for  the  Christian  and  must  be  abandoned  by 
him.  His  Hfe  is  a  warfare,  but  the  war  is  not 
against  his  neighbor,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
pagan;  the  strife  in  which  he  is  engaged  is 
against  the  powers  of  evil  and  of  darkness.  He 
is  to  put  on  Christ  as  the  armor  of  his  battle, 
and  to  identify  himself  with  his  Leader.  The 
war  which  he  fights  is  the  war  of  Christ  against 
the  world,  and  he  is  to  give  his  whole  mind  to 
this,  and  to  take  no  thought  for  his  own  bodily 
comfort  and  pleasures. 


XXVII 

THE  ENTRANCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  INTO  EUROPE 

Ac/s  fj  :  j<5  to  1 6  :  is 

The  mission  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  the 
Council  in  Jerusalem  was  followed  by  a  short 
period  of  teaching  and  preaching  in  Antioch, 
which  apparently  comprised  only  a  few  months 
at  the  beginning  of  a.d.  50.  It  was  probably 
in  the  spring  of  that  year  that  Paul  proposed 
to  Barnabas  to  return  to  Galatia  and  "visit  the 
brethren  in  every  city"  where  they  had 
preached.  The  spring  is  almost  certainly  the 
season  when  they  would  enter  upon  their  jour- 
ney, just  as  they  would  start  in  the  morning, 
not  in  the  afternoon.  Such  was  and  is  Ori- 
ental custom  and  nature.  The  start  probably 
was  made  in  quite  early  spring,  as  the  plan  was 
to  do  some  work  by  the  way  in  Syria  and 
Cilicia;  and  the  beginning  of  summer  is  the 
season  best  suited  for  the  long  journeys 
which  they  proposed  to  make  beyond  the 
snowy  Taurus  and  in  Galatia,  where  the  cities 

197 


198    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

were  placed  about  3,300  to  3,600  feet  above 
sea-level. 

An  unhappy  incident  now  occurred,  which 
led  to  the  separation  of  Paul  and  Barnabas. 
The  latter  wished  to  take  his  relative,  John 
Mark,  as  their  companion.  Paul,  who  had  been 
deeply  wounded  by  Mark's  desertion  on  the 
former  journey,  would  not  trust  him  again. 
There  was  a  sharp  contention  between  the  two 
old  friends ;  and  Barnabas  went  off  with  Mark 
to  Cyprus,  while  Paul  chose  Silas,  a  delegate 
sent  by  the  Council  from  Jerusalem.  The  ex- 
pression of  15  :  37  seems  designed  to  show 
that  the  Antiochian  Church  sympathized  rather 
with  Paul,  who  was  continuing  the  forward 
movement,  than  with  Barnabas,  who  went 
away  into  the  backwater  of  Cyprus  and  passes 
out  of  history.  Luke  expresses  no  opinion  as 
to  who  was  to  blame  for  the  lamentable  quar- 
rel, and  we  should  admire  and  imitate  his 
reticence.  The  fate  of  the  Church  lay  in  the 
work  of  Paul  and  his  coadjutors.  We  part 
from  the  honorable  and  gracious  personality 
of  Barnabas  with  deep  regret;  but  history 
marches  with  Paul. 

Some  time  was  spent  by  Paul  among  the 


Entra7ice  into  Europe  199 

Churches  of  North  Syria  and  Cilicia.  These 
Churches  are  mentioned  exphcitly  only  here; 
and  they  are  impHed  in  15  :  22^,  where  the  let- 
ter of  the  Council  is  addressed  to  them  as  well 
as  to  Antioch.  Of  their  foundation  no  record 
is  preserved.  Presumably,  they  grew  up  partly 
through  the  work  of  Paul  in  a.d.  35-43  (Gal. 
I  :  22i)y  aided  by  the  natural  spread  of  the  new 
Faith  first  in  the  towns  along  the  great  road 
connecting  Antioch  with  Tarsus,  and  after- 
wards in  outlying  places.  The  facts  of  the 
situation  show  that  they  were  mixed  congrega- 
tions, where  the  relation  of  Jew  and  Gentile 
Christians  would  be  a  difficult  problem.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  letter  of  the  Council,  fixing 
the  terms  on  which  social  intercourse  could 
take  place  freely  between  the  converted  pagans, 
used  to  a  looser  life,  and  the  Jewish  Christians, 
who  had  grown  up  in  the  teaching  of  a  stricter 
ritual  and  a  higher  morality,  was  addressed  to 
all  the  Churches  of  the  great  united  Roman 
Province  of  Syria  and  Cilicia;  and  there  was 
no  need  for  Paul  to  communicate  the  letter  to 
them.  His  work  here  was  only  to  "confirm  the 
Churches,"  spending  probably  some  days  in 
each,  enforcing  principles  already  taught. 


200   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Thereafter,  a  long  journey  of  at  least  120 
miles  had  to  be  made  through  a  country  which 
was  not  Roman,  and  in  which  Paul  seems  not 
to  have  preached,  as  it  did  not  offer  a  favorable 
opening.  His  work  began  anew  when  he 
reached  the  Roman  Province  Galatia,  and  came 
first  to  Derbe,  the  frontier  city,  and  then  to 
Lystra.  Here  and  in  the  other  Galatian 
Churches  the  Decree  of  the  Council  had  not  yet 
been  delivered,  as  it  was  not  addressed  to  them. 
But  the  problem  with  which  the  Decree  dealt 
was  as  acute  in  Galatia  as  in  Syria  and  Cilicia. 
Paul  loyally  carried  out  the  spirit  of  the  Coun- 
cil's decision,  communicating  the  Decree  to  his 
converts  and  urging  them  to  keep  it.  His  ob- 
ject was  to  secure  unity  of  feeling  and  unity 
of  life  in  those  mixed  congregations,  where  the 
former  pagans  were  the  overwhelming  major- 
ity. No  real  unity  was  possible,  if  either  the 
Jewish  Christians  insisted  that  the  pagan  con- 
verts should  accept  the  whole  Jewish  Law,  or 
the  pagans  refrained  from  complying  with 
those  enactments  which  were  necessary  if  Jews 
were  to  sit  at  the  same  table  and  eat  the  same 
food  with  them. 

Paul,  in  his  eager  desire  to  show  the  utmost 


Entrance  into  Europe  201 

respect  to  the  Jewish  Law  in  any  case  of  doubt, 
took  now  a  step  which  led  to  much  discussion. 
He  found  that  a  youth  named  Timotheos  ( Tim- 
othy) at  Lystra  was  a  suitable  coadjutor.  A 
convert  of  Paul's  former  journey,  he  had  ac- 
quired a  high  reputation  in  the  congregations  of 
his  own  country,  Lystra  and  Iconium :  Derbe, 
which  was  more  distant  from  Lystra,  is  not 
mentioned.  He  was  also  marked  out  by 
prophetic  utterances  (i  Tim.  i  :  18);  prob- 
ably in  the  public  assembly  at  Lystra  some 
persons  had  suddenly,  under  Divine  inspira- 
tion, designated  Timothy  for  this  work. 

There  was,  however,  one  difficulty.  Tim- 
othy was  son  of  a  Greek  father  and  a  Jewish 
mother.  While  his  mother  had  trained  him 
from  childhood  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  he 
ranked  according  to  his  father  as  a  Greek,  and 
had  not  been  circumcised.  It  was  almost  im- 
possible for  him  in  this  condition  to  come  into 
social  and  friendly  relations  with  Jews.  His 
mother's  marriage,  it  is  true,  proves  that  some 
Jews  in  that  region  were  very  free  in  their 
views,  but  the  stricter  Jews  would  be  suspicious 
of  the  son  of  a  mixed  marriage,  and  would  re- 
fuse to  have  any  relations  with  him,  unless  he 


202    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

were  circumcised.  Yet  Paul's  method  always 
was  to  begin  with  the  Synagogue  in  each  city, 
and  a  coadjutor  whom  the  Jews  would  not  ad- 
mit to  intimacy  would  be  much  less  useful.  Ac- 
cordingly, "because  of  the  Jews  that  were  in 
those  parts,"  he  himself  circumcised  Timothy. 

This  action  was  easily  liable  to  misunder- 
standing, as  if  it  implied  that  ordinary  Chris- 
tians might  be  free  from  the  Law,  but  that 
those  who  were  to  be  worthy  of  higher  dignity 
must  comply  fully  with  its  requirements.  Also, 
it  shows  that  Paul  entertained  much  wider 
plans  than  were  stated  at  the  start  (15  :  36)  ; 
his  action  to  Timothy  was  intended,  not  with 
a  view  to  the  people  of  the  already  existing 
congregations,  who  thought  so  highly  of  the 
young  man,  but  for  the  Jews  of  strange  cities. 
Evidently,  he  was  already  planning  his  entrance 
into  the  great  and  wealthy  cities  of  the  prov- 
ince Asia. 

But  after  surveying  all  his  Churches,  and 
seeing  that  they  were  steadily  growing  under 
the  officials  who  had  been  appointed,  he  found 
at  the  frontier  of  Galatia  and  Asia  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  forbade  him  to  speak  the  word  in 
the  latter  province.     The  prohibition  implies 


Entrance  into  Europe  203 

that  Paul  was  intending  to  preach  in  Asia,  and 
had  fixed  his  eyes  previously  on  that  important 
province  and  its  capital,  Corinth.  The  Spirit 
w^ould  not  have  spoken  unnecessarily. 

The  little  company  of  travelers,  therefore, 
turned  north  with  the  design  of  entering  Bi- 
thynia,  a  rich  province  containing  great  cities, 
but  "when  they  were  come  over  against  Mysia," 
their  farther  way  northwards  was  stopped  by 
"the  Spirit  of  Jesus."  They  then  turned  west- 
wards till  they  reached  Troas.  This  journey, 
after  leaving  Galatia,  was  entirely  in  the  prov- 
ince Asia,  where  they  were  not  allowed  to 
preach;  hence  they  "passed  by"  (i.e.  neglected) 
Mysia.^ 

The  difference  of  expression  regarding  the 
several  intimations  of  the  Divine  Will  in  these 
verses  points  to  different  methods  of  revelation, 
and  is  obscure  to  us;  but  it  springs  from  inti- 
mate knowledge  on  the  part  of  Luke,  and  this 
knowledge  was  gained  from  Paul's  mouth.  We 
gather  only  that  the  second  intimation  merely 
barred  the  path  to  Bithynia,  while  the  first  gave 

*Mysia  was  a  region  of  the  province  Asia:  in  order 
to  reach  Troas  they  must  pass  through  Mysia,  but  they 
did  not  preach  in  it. 


204    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

clear  orders  as  to  conduct,  but  left  the  way 
through  Asia  open. 

Now  at  last  the  explanation  of  these  long 
journeyings  came  through  a  vision.  By  night 
Paul  saw  a  man,  whom  he  recognized  as  Mace- 
donian, beseeching  him  and  saying,  ''Come  over 
into  Macedonia,  and  help  us."  Here  Luke  ap- 
pears personally  as  one  of  Paul's  companions: 
"Straightway  we  sought  to  go  forth  into  Mace- 
donia, supposing  that  God  had  called  us  to 
preach  the  gospel  unto  them."  From  this 
point  onwards  we  can  see  where  Luke  left  and 
rejoined  Paul,  by  noting  the  use  of  the  first 
personal  plural  pronoun.  The  intention  is  un- 
mistakable. Luke  desires  to  show  clearly  that 
in  certain  parts  of  the  narrative  he  spoke  as  an 
eye-witness.  If  so,  it  must  also  be  inferred 
that  in  the  rest  of  the  book  he  was  not  an  eye- 
witness, but  depended  on  the  authority  of 
others.  In  14  :  22  "we"  is  used  differently; 
it  means  "we  Christians"  universally;  but  in 
16-28  it  marks  the  writer  as  one  of  a  small 
company  of  travelers,  who  are  all  called 
to  be  preachers  and  missionaries.  It  was  at 
Troas  that  Luke  began  to  be  a  companion  of 
Paul ;  he  remained  in  Philippi  when  Paul  went 


Entrance  into  Europe  205 

on ;  later,  when  Paul  returned  to  Philippi,  Luke 
rejoined  him  and  accompanied  him  to  Jeru- 
salem and  Rome.  These  and  other  facts  point 
to  some  connection  between  Luke  and  Philippi. 
Philippi,  a  Roman  Colony  and  a  leading  city 
of  its  district,  was  reached  by  a  voyage  to 
Neapolis  and  a  short  journey  inland.  It  con- 
tained few  Jews  and  no  Synagogue.  When 
some  days  had  passed,  and  the  Sabbath  came, 
Paul's  party  went  out  to  the  river-side,  and 
found  an  assembly  of  women  met  for  prayer. 
This  offered  an  opening,  and  they  addressed 
the  women.  One  of  these  was  a  stranger  from 
Thyatira,  whose  national  appellation  Lydia  had 
supplanted  her  proper  name.  Although  not 
a  Jewess,  she  had  been  attracted  by  the  severe 
and  lofty  Jewish  religion.  She  was  now  deeply 
impressed  by  the  new  teaching,  and  after  a 
time,  evidently  short,  she  and  all  her  household 
adopted  the  new  Faith,  and  were  baptized. 
Lydia  was  apparently  a  widow,  as  she  was 
mistress  of  a  household,  possessed  of  consid- 
erable property ;  and  she  entertained  the  whole 
party  in  her  house,  pressing  her  hospitality 
upon  them. 


XXVIII 

THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  IN  EUROPE 

Acis  1 6  :  16-40 

The  conversion  of  the  household  of  Lydia, 
and  of  the  jailer  in  Philippi  (which  is  related 
subsequently),  are  examples  of  the  strong 
family  unity  that  characterized  ancient  society. 
House  slaves  were,  as  a  rule,  much  attached  to 
their  masters,  and  were  regarded  as  part  of  the 
family  and  as  far  more  trustworthy  than  hired 
servants,  and  the  household  was  governed  in 
a  half -patriarchal  style.  The  jailer's  household 
was  probably  humble  and  small,  yet  even  he 
would  doubtless  have  at  least  one  slave.  But 
Lydia's  household  must  have  been  much  larger. 
She  was  working  a  business  that  required  con- 
siderable capital,  as  she  was  a  dealer  in  a  fash- 
ionable and  rather  expensive  kind  of  garments. 
Her  house  was  able  to  take  in  four  guests  on 
an  unexpected  visit;  and,  though  Eastern  hab- 
its of  living  are  simpler,  yet  where  a  woman 
was  the  householder,  this  implies  free  space 
206 


The  First  Eur  ope  art  Church       207 

and  room  for  separation.  The  constraint 
which  she  appHed  shows  that  the  four  mission- 
aries hesitated  to  force  so  large  a  company 
on  her,  and  only  yielded  to  her  pressing  hospi- 
tality. The  situation  also  proves  that  women 
enjoyed  much  freedom  and  respect  in  those 
Macedonian  cities. 

Paul  and  his  friends  now  had  a  very  favor- 
ble  opportunity;  as  he  himself  would  have  ex- 
pressed it,  a  door  was  open  to  him  for  work  in 
Philippi.  How  long  he  remained  there  Luke 
does  not  define  exactly ;  but  there  is  no  reason 
to  think  the  time  was  long,  or  that  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  city  and  the  formation  of  the 
Church  were  completed  by  him.  That  was 
left  to  Luke,  who  remained  in  Philippi  after 
the  departure  of  Paul  and  Silas. 

The  catastrophe  was  forced  on  prematurely 
by  a  remarkable  incident,  which  is  very  char- 
acteristic of  society  in  the  ^gean  cities,  and 
which  shows  what  a  large  part  was  played  by 
magical  and  other  arts  for  making  money  out 
of  the  superstitions  of  the  populace.  There  was 
a  slave-girl  who  was  a  skillful  ventriloquist, 
and  who  gained  thereby  a  considerable  income 
for  her  masters  by  pretending  to  reveal  future 


2o8    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

events  and  tell  fortunes.  For  the  successful 
practise  of  such  an  art  it  is  necessary  to  possess 
a  certain  sensitiveness  of  temperament;  and 
the  girl  seems  in  some  subtle  way  to  have  ap- 
preciated the  spiritual  influence  with  which  the 
Apostle  and  his  companions  were  endowed. 
Day  after  day  she  followed  them,  calling  out, 
"These  men  are  slaves  of  the  Most  High  God, 
who  proclaim  to  you  a  way  of  salvation." 
Now  these  words,  which  seem  to  us  to  carry 
some  intimation  of  Christian  character,  did  not 
convey  any  such  impression  to  the  people  in 
the  streets,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that 
they  were  understood  in  that  way  by  the  girl 
herself.  The  "Most  High  God"  was  a  familiar 
name  in  the  syncretistic  paganism  of  the  time, 
mixed  of  various  Oriental  and  European  ele- 
ments. "Salvation"  was  what  all  were  seeking 
after  and  asking  for  in  the  pagan  world,  and 
was  often  prayed  for  in  pagan  votive  offerings. 
Paul  seems  to  have  felt  that  these  cries,  pursu- 
ing him  daily,  attracted  attention  to  him  in  a 
wrong  way  and  were  a  hindrance  to  his  work  ; 
and  at  last  he  turned  on  the  girl,  and  address- 
ing the  spirit,  which  according  to  the  ancient 
idea  resided  in  her,  he  ordered  it  to  leave  her. 


The  First  European  Church       209 

The  spiritual  sensitiveness  which  she  really  pos- 
sessed placed  her  under  the  influence  of  a  more 
powerful  nature,  and  from  that  moment  she 
lost  her  skill. 

The  owners  of  the  girl,  who  were  thus  de- 
prived of  an  easy  livelihood,  were  extremely 
annoyed.  They  evidently  conceived  the  idea 
that,  if  the  superior  influence  of  the  strangers 
were  removed,  she  might  recover  her  power; 
and  accordingly  they  brought  a  charge  against 
the  two  leaders,  Paul  and  Silas,  before  the  city 
magistrates.  The  charge  was  cleverly  con- 
trived to  touch  the  pride  of  the  city,  whose 
glory  it  was  to  be  Roman  and  not  mere  Mace- 
donian like  the  other  towns  of  the  region.  The 
Apostles  were  accused  of  causing  disorder  by 
trying  to  introduce  customs  which  were  unlaw- 
ful for  the  people  of  Philippi  as  Romans  to 
practise.  Anything  that  seemed  to  interfere 
with  or  diminish  the  honor  of  the  city  as  a 
Roman  Colony  roused  the  indignation  of  the 
magistrates.  They  did  not  wait  to  inquire  into 
the  grounds  of  the  charge,  or  the  guilt  of  the 
accused.  The  populace  rose  as  one  man  against 
these  hateful  Jews.  The  magistrates  forthwith 
treated  the  accusation  as  proved,  and  practi- 


2IO   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

cally  condemned  Paul  and  Silas  as  enemies  of 
the  city  and  of  the  Empire.  They  rent  their 
clothes  in  horror  at  snch  abominable  acts,  and 
ordered  the  prisoners  to  be  beaten  by  the  lictors, 
who,  as  usual,  were  in  attendance  on  the  mag- 
istrates of  a  Roman  city.  There  was  no  show 
of  observing  Roman  law  and  procedure,  merely 
fussy  and  pretentious  display  of  loyalty  to  the 
Roman  name  and  of  horror  at  the  mere  accu- 
sation of  disloyalty.  Luke  does  not  mention 
that  friendship  for  their  own  citizens,  who  were 
injured  by  strange  Jews,  played  any  part  in 
the  magistrates'  action,  but  it  is  not  impossi- 
ble or  inconsistent  with  his  narrative  that  such 
feelings  may  have  influenced  their  conduct. 

After  being  beaten  Paul  and  Silas  were 
thrown  into  prison,  and  the  jailer  was  specially 
charged  to  keep  them  safe  as  prisoners  of  State, 
accused  of  high  treason.  At  midnight,  fast- 
ened in  the  stocks,  they  were  praying  and  sing- 
ing hymns,  and  the  prisoners  were  listening  to 
this  strange  conduct,  when  an  earthquake  oc- 
curred. The  ill-fitting  doors,  and  the  wooden 
stocks  roughly  let  into  the  wall,  were  shaken 
apart;  and  the  prisoners  were  thus  set  at  lib- 
erty.   That  strange  freaks  and  accidents  of  an 


The  First  European  Church       2 1 1 

incalculable  and  extraordinary  kind  frequently 
take  place  during  an  earthquake  is  a  fact  fa- 
miliar to  every  one  who  has  experienced  such 
an  event. 

The  jailer  v^as  suddenly  av^akened  to  see 
the  doors  standing  open;  and  hastily  conclud- 
ing that  the  prisoners,  for  whom  he  was  re- 
sponsible with  his  life,  had  taken  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  to  escape,  he  was  about  to  kill 
himself,  when  Paul  called  out  to  him,  ''Do 
thyself  no  harm,  for  we  are  all  here."  There 
must  have  been  light  outside,  for  Paul  could 
see  the  jailer,  but  the  jailer  could  not  see  him. 
In  the  dark  prison  lights  were  needed  (as  in 
12  :  7).  Oriental  prisons  are  almost  always 
dark,  dirty,  noisome,  ill-constructed,  and 
badly  fitted  with  appliances  for  safe  custody. 
When  lights  were  brought,  and  the  jailer  was 
relieved  of  his  anxiety,  he  was  filled  with 
gratitude  and  respect  for  the  moral  and 
saving  power  of  Paul;  and  asked  about 
the  way  of  salvation,  to  which  the  slave- 
girl  had  said  that  Paul  was  the  guide.  In 
that  time  of  excitement  and  emotion,  the  man 
was  more  open  to  belief  than  in  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances.   An  earthquake  is  in  itself  terrify- 


2 1 2    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ing;  the  way  of  suicide  had  for  a  moment 
seemed  the  only  path  open  to  him;  and  fear 
was  the  beginning  of  wisdom  in  this  as  in  many 
other  cases.  Thus  occurred  the  somewhat  sen- 
sational and  almost  melodramatic  conclusion  of 
the  scene,  the  conversion  of  the  jailer  and  his 
household.  Such  a  conversion,  so  suddenly 
brought  about,  could  only  be,  at  best,  the  begin- 
ning of  a  process  of  learning  the  truth;  there 
was  much  to  do  before  such  a  man  could  be 
raised  to  the  level  of  Christian  life;  and  here 
he  passes  out  of  our  range  of  knowledge.  But 
Luke,  who  remained  in  Philippi,  doubtless 
knew  him  in  the  years  that  followed;  and  we 
can  conjecture  the  future  from  what  is  here 
related.  We  might  not  unfairly  take  this  as 
one  of  the  cases  in  which  Luke,  composing  his 
history  about  a.d.  8o,  spoke  with  the  knowledge 
of  later  years  and  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  time  when  he  was  writing. 

In  the  morning  the  magistrates,  having  had 
time  to  reflect  on  their  hasty  conduct,  went  to 
the  opposite  extreme,  and  sent  to  release  the 
two  prisoners  without  proceeding  further  in 
the  case.  Paul  now  claimed  the  rights  of  Ro- 
man citizens,  belonging  to  himself  and  Silas 


The  First  European  Church       213 

(whose  proper  name  was  Silvanus),  in  virtue 
of  which  they  should  have  been  free  from  the 
degradation  of  personal  chastisement.  It  was 
now  the  turn  of  the  magistrates  to  humble 
themselves,  and  the  incident  at  Philippi  con- 
cludes with  their  request  for  pardon  and  for 
the  departure  of  these  two  dangerous  men. 
Apparently  Paul  considered  that  it  was  best  to 
comply  with  what  was  practically  an  order, 
though  put  in  an  apologetic  form.  His  work 
had  been  so  far  successful,  and  might  now  be 
transferred  elsewhere,  while  Luke  remained  as 
his  representative  in  charge  at  Philippi.  It  is 
also  possible  that  the  energy  and  practical  ex- 
perience of  Lydia  were  effective  in  guiding  the 
development  of  the   first   European   Church.^ 

*As  has  been  stated,  the  name  Lydia  was  probably 
only  an  appellation  given  in  Philippi  to  this  Lydian 
stranger.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  she  is  per- 
haps one  of  the  two  strong-minded  ladies,  Euodia  and 
Syntyche,  who  are  urged  to  act  harmoniously  in  Church 
work.  The  familiar  use  of  appellations  was  very  com- 
mon in  ancient  life ;  and  it  is  characteristic  of  Paul's 
more  polished  manner  to  employ  the  correct  personal 
name  (as  he  speaks  of  Silvanus  and  Prisca,  Section 
XXXI,  while  Luke  employs  the  more  familiar  names 
Silas  and  Priscilla).  Such  variations  show  how  close 
Luke  and  Paul  stand  to  the  persons  whom  they  mention. 


2 1 4   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Timothy  seems  either  to  have  gone  with  Paul 
and  Silas,  or  to  have  followed  them  shortly 
after  (as  we  gather  from  17  :  14). 


XXIX 

THE  PROGRESS  THROUGH   MACEDONIA 
Ac/s  ly  :  i-ij 

From  Philippi  Paul  and  Silas,  with  Timothy 
accompanying  or  following,  went  along  the 
great  Roman  road,  called  the  Egnatian  Way, 
to  the  chief  city  of  the  province  Macedonia, 
Thessalonica,  which  still  retains  part  of  its  old 
commercial  importance,  and  its  old  name  in  the 
modified  form  Salonik.  Here  there  was  a  set- 
tlement of  Jews  and  a  Synagogue,  where  Paul 
after  his  usual  fashion  found  an  opening  for 
work.  On  three  successive  Sabbaths  he 
preached,  explaining  the  real  meaning  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  proving  that  in  them  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  the  Messiah  were  predicted, 
and  that  Jesus  had  fulfilled  these  predictions 
and  must  therefore  be  the  Messiah. 

Some  of  the  Jews  believed,  especially  a  man 
named  Jason.  Very  much  greater  success, 
however,  was  gained  among  the  Hellenic  pop- 
ulation of  the  city,  both  among  those  called 

215 


2 1 6   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

''God-fearing,"  who  had  already  become  ac- 
customed to  listen  to  the  lofty  teaching  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures,  and  among  the  ordinary  pa- 
gans, who  now  for  the  first  time  * 'turned  unto 
God  from  idols"  (i  Thess.  1:9).  It  is  evi- 
dent, therefore,  that  besides  preaching  in  the 
Synagogue,  Paul  and  Silas  also  taught  the 
ordinary  Hellenes  of  the  city  in  some  other 
way,  either  during  or  after  the  three  Sabbaths. 
A  number  of  the  leading  women  also  cast 
in  their  lot  with  the  heralds  of  the  new  Faith. 
Luke  makes  it  a  rule  to  notice  how  far  the 
teaching  of  Paul  reached  the  women,  who  in 
the  circumstances  of  ancient  life  had  not  such 
ready  access  to  the  public  lectures  of  strange 
teachers,  but  who  were  often  attracted  in  pri- 
vate to  various  forms  of  Oriental  religion,  Jew- 
ish, Christian,  etc.  In  the  Christian  assemblies 
these  women  found  much  freer  opportunity  to 
give  public  expression  to  their  views,  and  thus 
to  strengthen  their  religious  convictions  and  to 
affect  the  opinions  of  others.  But  Paul  was  al- 
ways cautious  and  apprehensive  lest  the  Chris- 
tian women  might  rouse  social  disapproval  by 
their  freedom,  and  he  was  inclined  to  discour- 
age their  open  public  action,  though  his  prin- 


Progress  Through  Macedonia     217 

ciples  would  not  permit  him  absolutely  to  for- 
bid a  woman  whom  the  Spirit  moved  to  speak. 
As  elsewhere,  so  in  Thessalonica,  the  Jews 
were  jealous  of  this  free  admission  of  pagans 
to  equality  with  themselves,  and  organized  a 
riot  among  the  low-class  and  idle  mob  of  the 
town.  They  first  tried  to  bring  Paul  and  Silas 
as  strangers,  before  a  popular  assembly,  where 
the  shouting  and  votes  of  the  mob  would  influ- 
ence the  proceedings ;  and,  failing  to  find  them, 
they  arraigned  Jason  and  other  brethren  be- 
fore the  magistrates.  A  more  formal  proced- 
ure was  now  required;  and  they  accused  their 
fellow-citizens  of  having  welcomed  strangers 
who  were  a  danger  to  public  order,  and  of  hav- 
ing in  concert  with  them  conspired  to  set  up 
another  Emperor,  viz.  Jesus,  and  thus  been 
guilty  of  treason  against  the  rightful  Emperor 
and  the  Imperial  law.  This  was  a  skilfully 
planned  charge.  At  that  time  treason  was  in- 
terpreted in  a  wide  sense  and  was  very  severely 
punished ;  anything  that  could  be  construed  as 
disrespect  to  the  Emperor  was  treason,  and  to 
speak  of  another  Emperor  or  King  was  an 
unpardonable  crime.  The  magistrates  were 
much  perturbed,  for  if  they  did  not  treat  the 


2 1 8    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

charge  seriously,  they  themselves  might  be  ac- 
cused of  disrespect  to  the  Emperor.  They  took 
a  very  lenient  course  in  the  circumstances, 
merely  binding  the  accused  to  come  up  for 
trial  when  required ;  and  the  brethren  sent  Paul 
and  Silas  av^ay  to  Beroea.  This  proceeding, 
taken  in  conjunction  with  Paul's  statement  that 
he  was  hindered  by  Satan  from  returning  to 
Thessalonica  (i  Thess.  2  :  18),  implies  that 
Jason  and  the  rest  would  be  tried,  if  Paul  re- 
turned to  trouble  the  city,  but  would  remain 
unharmed  so  long  as  Paul  w^as  kept  out.  In 
this  ingenious  way  the  magistrates  saved  their 
own  fellow-citizens,  and  pacified  the  accusers, 
whose  object  was  to  get  rid  of  Paul  and  Silas. 

The  magistrates  of  Philippi  and  Thessalo- 
nica are  called  by  their  correct  titles,  stratcgoi 
and  politarchai,  and  the  people  of  the  latter 
city  are  rightly  called  Hellenes,  a  name  which 
the  Roman  Colony  Philippi  would  have 
rejected.  All  these  and  many  other  little  de- 
tails show  the  minute  accuracy  of  Luke. 

This  premature  departure  from  Thessalonica 
greatly  disturbed  Paul.  The  congregation  was 
not  sufficiently  instructed  to  be  safely  left  to 
itself.     His  anxiety  to  return,  and  the  need 


Progress  Through  Macedonia     219 

that  there  was  to  clear  away  from  the  minds  of 
the  Thessalonians  some  mistakes  which  they 
Avere  making  as  to  the  meaning  of  his  teaching, 
are  shown  in  his  two  letters  to  them,  written 
very  shortly  after  his  departure.  These  letters 
are  unique  in  their  special  and  anxious  care  of 
an  infant  congregation. 

Paul  had  been  driven  from  Philippi  even 
more  unexpectedly  and  prematurely,  yet  he  felt 
no  such  anxiety  in  that  case,  but  in  later  years 
recalls  with  grateful  memory  the  conduct  of 
the  Philippian  Church  in  the  months  that  fol- 
lowed his  departure. 

The  difference  was  certainly  due  to  the  fact 
that  Luke  remained  in  charge  there;  but  at 
Thessalonica  no  one  was  left  to  whom  Paul 
could  trust  so  confidently.  Hence  he  had  to 
send  back  Silas  and  Timothy,  when  he  found 
that  "Satan  hindered"  him  from  returning. 
Yet,  while  he  was  anxious  about  the  Thessa- 
lonians, Paul  in  his  letters  finds  no  fault  with 
them,  but  extols  in  the  highest  terms  their  noble 
conduct,  which  made  them  a  pattern  to  all.  He 
tactfully  praises  them  for  the  steadfastness 
which  he  desired  to  encourage  in  them. 

Paul  and  his  company  went  on  to  the  inland 


2  20   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Macedonian  town  of  Beroea,  and  there  found  a 
kindly  welcome  and  an  attentive  audience  in 
the  Synagogue.  In  this  remote  Macedonian 
town  the  Jews  were  probably  isolated,  and 
gladly  received  the  visit  of  men  of  their  own 
nation,  and  without  any  prejudice  examined 
carefully  the  evidence  which  Paul  pointed  out 
in  the  Prophets  about  the  Coming  and  the  Life 
of  the  Messiah.  Many  of  them  believed  in  the 
new  teaching,  and  with  them  were  associated  a 
considerable  number  of  Hellenes,  especially  la- 
dies. Considering  the  marked  favor  shown  to 
Paul  in  this  Synagogue,  we  may  safely  con- 
sider that  the  Beroean  Church  consisted  largely 
of  Jews  and  the  "God-fearing"  Hellenes,  who 
had  already  come  under  the  attractive  and  im- 
pressive influence  of  the  Hebrew  monotheism : 
these  were  the  most  thoughtful  and  serious 
part  of  the  Hellenes,  possessed  of  a  naturally 
religious  mind. 

But  the  enmity  of  the  Jews  in  Thessalonica 
still  pursued  Paul.  They  sent  agents  who 
roused  the  Beroean  populace  to  disorder;  and 
the  brethren,  fearing  furtlier  riots,  sent  Paul 
away,  convoyed  by  certain  of  themselves,  down 
to  the  sea-coast.     Here  there  occurred  appar- 


Progress  Through  Macedonia     2  2 1 

ently  some  change  of  plan,  for  the  Beroean  del- 
egates ultimately  brought  Paul  to  Athens,  and 
came  back  with  a  message  to  Silas  and  Timo- 
thy bidding  them  join  him  there.  It  would 
seem  that  his  intention  had  been  to  sail  back 
to  Thessalonica,  but  that  such  news  reached 
him  as  to  prevent  this  plan  from  being  put 
in  execution  (i  Thess.  2  :  18).  There  was  no 
legal  power  preventing  his  return  to  Thessa- 
lonica, but  only  the  evil  consequences  to  Jason 
and  his  friends ;  and  there  was  every  hope  that 
after  a  time,  when  the  acuteness  of  the  situa- 
tion had  quieted  down  so  far  as  the  magistrates 
were  concerned,  it  might  be  possible  for  him 
to  rejoin  his  infant  Church.  The  change  of 
plan  had  to  be  notified  to  his  coadjutors.  Ap- 
parently the  plan  was  that  Silas  and  Timothy 
should  take  Thessalonica  on  their  way  to 
Athens,  and  do  what  Paul  was  prevented  from 
doing. 

The  completeness  and  perfection  with  which 
the  narrative  in  Acts  is  illustrated  by,  and 
throws  light  in  its  turn  on,  the  Thessalonian 
letters,  makes  the  study  of  the  relations  be- 
tween them  exceptionally  instructive. 


XXX 

PAUL  AT  ATHENS 
Ac/s  ly  :  16-34 

Paul's  experiences  in  Athens  are  in  some 
v/ays  the  most  picturesque  and  interesting  in- 
cident in  his  whole  career.  He  found  himself 
in  the  city  which  was  the  centre  and  the  origi- 
nator of  Greek  University  life  and  education; 
and,  as  one  who  was  trained  at  Tarsus  in  the 
learning  of  the  Greeks,  he  surveyed  the  city, 
its  buildings  and  sights  (such  is  the  force  of 
the  verb  in  verse  16),  and  was  roused  to  indig- 
nation that  it  was  full  of  idols. 

Besides  his  ordinary  custom  of  preaching  in 
the  Synagogue  to  the  Jews  and  the  God- 
fearing pagans  who  resorted  thither,  he 
adapted  himself  to  the  Athenian  manner,  and 
discussed  philosophical  subjects  and  the  nature 
of  God  in  the  market-place,  as  Socrates  and 
other  thinkers  had  done,  with  any  chance  per- 
son. In  this  way  he  came  into  relations  with 
some  philosophers  of  the  two  schools,  which 
222 


Paul  at  Athens  223 

at  that  time  were  eminent  in  Greek  philosophic 
circles,  the  Stoic  and  the  Epicurean. 

In  the  theory  of  the  Stoic  school,  man  was 
the  master  of  his  fate  and  supreme  in  himself, 
not  dependent  on  God,  but  seeking  for  himself 
after  virtue  and  finding  in  it  the  highest  good. 
The  Epicureans  enjoined  as  the  aim  and  rule 
of  life  to  enjoy  in  soul-quietness  as  many  as 
possible  of  the  higher  pleasures  and  nobler  sen- 
sations of  human  nature,  especially  the  mental 
emotions,  apart  from  any  relation  to  God. 
Practically,  both  philosophies  made  man  and 
not  God  the  ruler  of  life;  and  this  denial  of 
Divine  government  issued  in  making  the  city 
of  philosophers  also  the  city  where  idols  were 
most  numerous.  Those  who  made  light  of 
God  were  willing  to  accept  and  recognize  any 
number  of  gods.  When  Paul  spoke  of  Jesus 
and  the  Resurrection,  the  Athenians  thought  he 
was  talking  about  two  foreign  deities  whose 
worship  he  wished  to  introduce. 

In  the  heat  of  discussion,  while  some 
called  him  contemptuously  a  mere  vulgar  pla- 
giarist and  stealer  of  other  men's  ideas  (re- 
ferring to  the  obvious  and  intentional  analogies 
between  many  of  Paul's  statements  and  those 


2  24    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

of  pagan  philosophers),  they  at  last  took  hold 
of  him  and  brought  him  before  Areopagus,  the 
court  which  had  some  kind  of  charge  of  pub- 
lic morals  and  teaching,  and  which  took  its 
name  from  the  hill  where  originally  it  had  sat 
to  try  cases  of  murder,  though  it  had  long  since 
changed  its  seat  and  its  jurisdiction.  In  the 
court  the  question  was  formally  put  to  Paul, 
what  was  this  new  teaching  which  he  was  set- 
ting forth,  and  the  desire  was  expressed  to 
know  its  exact  nature.  Thus  before  the  highest 
moral  and  educational  tribunal  of  the  ancient 
world  Paul  was  placed  by  his  opponents  to 
state  his  message  to  the  Greek  world. 

The  occasion  was  dramatic,  and  Luke  fully 
appreciated  the  effectiveness  of  the  situation. 
There  is  a  subtle  difference  of  tone  here  in  the 
narrative  corresponding  to  his  conception  of 
the  scene  as  a  whole.  At  this  point  he  places 
his  report,  once  for  all,  of  the  message  which 
Paul  brought  to  the  pagans.  At  Pisidian  An- 
tioch  he  gave  the  report  of  Paul's  address  to  a 
mixed  audience  of  Jews  and  God-fearing  Gen- 
tiles; but  he  reserved  for  the  centre  of  Greek 
education  his  account  of  the  way  in  which  Paul 
introduced  his  doctrine  to  an  entirely  ignorant 


Paul  at  Athens  225 

and  unprepared  assembly  in  a  Hellenic  city. 
There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  speech  was 
radically  different  in  tone  from  the  kind  of 
introductory  addresses  which  he  might  have 
used  to  purely  pagan  audiences  in  other  cities. 
It  is  more  philosophic  in  expression,  corre- 
sponding to  the  different  standard  of  education 
in  the  hearers,  but  otherwise  it  is  probably  on 
the  same  religious  plane. 

Paul  treats  the  w^orship  of  deities  by  the  pa- 
gans as  a  misdirected  form  of  a  right  and 
natural  religious  impulse;  that  Divine  power 
which  they  worshiped  wrongly  in  ignorance 
Paul  declared  to  them  in  its  true  form.  The 
true  God,  who  made  the  world  and  gives  all 
good  things  to  mankind  (14  :  15,  17),  is  im- 
material and  spiritual,  standing  in  need  of 
nothing  from  men;  therefore  the  principle  of 
paganism,  that  men  build  houses  for  God  to 
dwell  in  and  give  Him  gifts  to  make  Him 
kindly  disposed  to  them,  is  false.  It  is  not  the 
case  that  each  nation  has  its  separate  deity,  but 
the  one  God  has  made  all  mankind  one  in 
obedience  to  Himself,  and  His  intention  is  that 
men  should  seek  after  Him  and  find  Him,  who 
is  close  to  man,  and  who  is  the  guiding  Power 


226    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

in  all  things  and  the  life  of  all  men.  As  the 
pagan  poets,  Aratus  and  Cleanthes,  have  said, 
"We  are  also  His  offspring."  Since  we  are 
God's  children,  we  should  not  think  that  God 
our  Father  resembles  any  image  of  gold  or 
silver  or  stone,  carved  by  human  art,  for  He  is 
purely  spiritual  and  ideal.  In  the  former  times 
God  left  man  to  learn  from  those  natural  wit- 
nesses of  Himself,  viz.  the  good  things  which 
He  gives  to  all.^  But  now  He  has  sent  a 
special  message  of  repentance.  This  oppor- 
tunity for  repentance  from  the  errors  and  sins 
of  paganism  must  be  used  immediately,  for  the 
Judgment  is  coming,  and  God  has  appointed  a 
Man  to  come  and  judge  the  world  according  to 
the  opportunities  offered  to  it;  the  proof  that 
the  message  is  true  lies  in  the  fact  that  God 
raised  from  the  dead  the  Man  whom  he  sent. 
This  speech  was  addressed  primarily  to  the 
Areopagus,  but  largely  to  the  general  audience 
who  stood  round  the  judges  and  the  parties. 
In  ancient  life  and  even  in  courts  of  law  the 
audience  played  a  very  important  part.     Law- 

^  These  words  should  be  compared  with  the  simihr, 
but  more  simply  expressed,  sentiment  in  the  remon- 
strance addressed  to  the  mob  at  Lystra  (Acts  14). 


Paul  at  Athens  227 

yers  pleading  a  case  often  addressed  themselves 
to  the  crowd  instead  of  the  judges;  and  the 
applause  or  disapproval  of  the  audience  repre- 
sented the  public  verdict  on  intellectual  dis- 
plays. 

In  Athens  Paul  was  understood  to  be  one  of 
those  new  teachers  who  so  often  came  there  to 
try  and  win  fame  and  fortune  by  their  gifts  of 
rhetoric  or  dialectic ;  and  the  audience  regarded 
his  speech  mainly  with  the  curiosity  of  idlers 
whose  chief  interest  lay  in  telling  or  hearing 
some  new  thing.  They  flocked  to  hear  this 
supposed  new  aspirant  for  intellectual  distinc- 
tion, but  what  they  expected  from  such  a  per- 
son was  a  brilliant  literary  performance.  The 
intense  earnestness  of  Paul  touched  no  cor- 
responding chord  in  their  hearts,  but  roused  in 
some  only  a  feeling  of  contempt  and  expres- 
sions of  mockery,  while  others  said  more 
politely,  but  probably  quite  as  carelessly,  that 
they  would  hear  him  again  on  some  future  oc- 
casion. The  more  or  less  highly  educated 
audience  in  the  hall  of  Areopagus  was  the  most 
difficult  in  the  world  for  a  preacher  of  religion 
to  address ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
Luke  marks  this  by  his  rather  contemptuous 


228  Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

description  of  them,  verses  21,  32,  and  by  his 
statement  that  Paul  "went  forth  from  the 
midst  of  them."  Not  much  success  attended 
his  work  in  Athens,  and  no  Church  seems  to 
have  been  formed  there  at  this  time. 

Yet  even  among  these  idle  and  frivolous 
loungers,  priding  themselves  on  their  culture 
and  their  superiority  to  vulgar  emotions  and 
ideas,  there  were  some  who  caught  the  ring 
of  genuineness  and  truth  in  Paul's  words. 
One  member  of  the  Areopagus  and  a  woman 
named  Damaris  and  a  few  others  became  ad- 
herents of  the  new  teaching.  Damaris  is  not 
said  to  belong  (as  the  converted  women  in 
Beroea  and  Thessalonica  did)  to  the  higher 
circle  of  society.  Athenian  usage  precluded 
women  of  the  better  class  from  being  present 
at  discussions  in  the  market-place  or  a  formal 
discourse  before  the  Areopagus.  It  is  a  strik- 
ing feature  in  Luke's  character,  and  shows  also 
the  exactness  of  his  knowledge,  that  he  records 
the  conversion  and  the  name  of  this  woman 
side  by  side  with  the  noble  Areopagite  Diony- 
sius. 

Paul  himself  seems  to  have  recognized  that 
speculative  philosophy  was  a  poor  preparation 


Paul  at  Athens  229 

for  a  religious  training;  and  in  Corinth,  his 
next  centre  of  work,  he  ''determined  not  to 
know  anything  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him 
crucified"  (i  Cor.  2:2);  and  his  simple  kind 
of  preaching  there  was  contrasted  by  some  of 
the  Corinthian  Christians  unfavorably  with  the 
more  philosophic  style  of  ApoUos.  But,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  variation  in  Paul's  style 
from  the  Athenian  speech  with  its  quotation 
from  versified  philosophy,  the  substance  and 
the  basis  of  his  teaching  was  everywhere  the 
same. 


XXXI 

THE  CHARTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  FREEDOM 
IN  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE 

Acts  i8 :  j-i8 

Paul,  when  he  sent  directions  to  Silas  and 
Timothy  to  join  him  in  Athens,  apparently 
intended  to  stay  there  for  some  time.  He 
found,  however,  that  the  place  and  the  people 
were  not  readily  accessible:  ''there  was  not  an 
open  door"  in  the  great  University  town; 
society  was  too  self-complacent,  too  clever  after 
a  fashion,  too  critical  with  regard  to  style  and 
outward  form.  Paul  therefore  departed  from 
Athens,  and  went  to  Corinth,  the  metropolis  of 
the  Roman  province,  an  ancient  and  famous 
city,  the  greatest  centre  of  trade  and  exchange 
in  Greece  from  the  beginning  of  Greek  history 
onwards. 

Corinth  had  been  totally  destroyed  by  the 

Romans  when  they  conquered  Greece  in   146 

B.C.,  but  had  forthwith  risen  afresh  from  its 

ashes,    and   re-established   itself   as   the   com- 

230 


Charter  of  Christian  Freedom      231 

mercial  centre  of  the  Greek  world.  On  the 
narrow  isthmus  which  divided  two  seas,  it  was 
planted  on  the  direct  line  of  communication  be- 
tween Rome  and  the  East.  Travellers  and 
officials  avoided,  in  general,  the  unbroken  sea- 
route  round  the  south  end  of  Greece ;  and  sailed 
to  the  one  side  of  the  isthmus,  spent  some  days 
in  Corinth,  and  then  sailed  again  from  the 
other  coast  on  their  further  course  from  or  to 
Rome.  Much  trade  also  followed  this  course, 
preferring  the  trouble  and  expense  of  trans- 
shipment at  the  isthmus  to  the  risks  of  coast- 
ing round  the  ill- famed  promontory  Malea, 
which  was  proverbial  as  a  danger  to  the  small 
vessels  of  the  ancients,  though  it  presents  no 
terror  to  modern  ships.  If  Athens  was  the 
intellectual  capital  of  the  world,  the  city  of 
art  and  of  the  higher  civilization,  Corinth  was 
the  capital  of  the  province  Achaia  and  the  cen- 
tre of  life  in  the  ^gean  world,  a  Roman 
Colony  like  Philippi  and  Lystra,  looking  west- 
wards and  eastwards  along  the  great  route  of 
the  Empire  to  Italy  and  Rome  on  the  one  side. 
to  Ephesus  and  all  Asia  on  the  other. 

Such    a    commanding   point    was    precisely 
the  sort  of  place  which  Paul  found  most  useful 


232    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

in  his  work.  In  Philippi  and  Thessalonica  he 
had  been  working  along  the  land-road  between 
Rome  and  the  East;  but  the  central  and  far 
most  important  line  of  communication  was  that 
which  passed  through  Corinth.  The  situation 
of  all  these  cities  throws  light  on  the  inner 
purpose  which  was  working  itself  out  in  Paul's 
mind  and  life.  How  far  he  was  himself  con- 
scious of  it  as  yet,  or  how  far  the  Spirit  was 
working  in  him  without  his  full  comprehension, 
we  cannot  say.  After  no  long  time  we  find  him 
looking  forward  to  Rome  itself  as  his  goal 
(Acts  19  :  21).  But  from  the  first  start  he  had 
been  groping  in  a  vague  way  along  the  sea- 
road  (13  :  4-13)  and  the  land-road  leading 
towards  the  capital  of  the  world. 

In  Corinth  Paul  found  two  persons  who 
were  destined  to  play  a  considerable  part  in 
early  Christian  history,  though  we  can  only 
dimly  guess  what  they  did.  In  a.d.  50  the 
Emperor  Claudius  had  expelled  the  Jews  from 
Rome.  Such  attempts  had  been  made  more 
than  once  before,  but  all  proved  unsuccessful; 
it  was  as  easy  to  stop  the  incoming  tide  on  the 
seashore  as  to  prevent  the  Jews  from  collecting 
at  the  centre  of  the  world's  financial  operations, 


Charter  of  Christian  Frcedo^n      233 

where  money  was  most  plentiful  and  commerce 
at  its  busiest.  For  the  moment  many  Jews  had 
to  retire,  but  soon  the  edict  fell  into  disuse  and 
they  came  back.  On  account  of  this  edict 
Aquila,  a  Jew  of  Pontus,  and  his  wife  Prisca 
(commonly  known,  as  here,  by  the  diminutive 
form  Priscilla,  cp.  Rom.  16  :  3),  had  come 
from  Rome  to  Corinth  early  in  a.d.  51.  Prisca 
was  probably  a  Roman  lady  of  good  birth,  as 
she  is  often  mentioned  before  her  husband. 
Paul  uses  the  more  formal  and  polite  name 
Prisca  (as  he  does  Silvanus).  Luke  always 
employs  the  familiar  form  which  he  was  ac- 
customed to  hear  in  everyday  life,  Priscilla 
(so  also  he  speaks  of  Silas).  Such  little 
touches  are  very  characteristic  of  the  two  men. 
Paul  had  the  high  courtesy  of  the  true  aristo- 
crat even  in  the  small  matters  of  life.  His 
friendship  with  Prisca  and  Aquila  probably 
caused  his  Roman  plans  to  come  rapidly  to 
maturity  in  his  mind.  He  learned  from  them 
the  condition  of  Rome. 

The  readiness  with  which  Paul  and  the  two 
exiles  joined  company  is  explained  partly  by 
their  common  trade,  but  a  stronger  reason 
must  have  been  that  the  strangers  from  Rome 


234   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

were  sympathetic,  in  other  words  that  they 
were  already  inclined  towards  the  Faith  of  the 
Messiah.  Whether  they  were  already  Chris- 
tians cannot  be  determined,  as  Luke  is  silent; 
but,  if  they  were,  they  had  learned  only  in  a 
very  imperfect  way  from  the  informal  teaching 
of  Jews  at  Rome,  and  their  friendship  with 
Paul  must  have  produced  a  powerful  effect  on 
their  understanding  of  the  Faith.  Who  could 
live  with  Paul  in  close  companionship  and  not 
be  strongly  influenced?  Some  Jews  hated 
Paul;  others  would  give  their  life  for  him; 
none  could  remain  indifferent  or  preserve  mere 
formal  and  commonplace  relations  with  him. 

As  usual,  Paul  began  with  public  addresses 
in  the  Synagogue  to  the  Jews  and  the  Hel- 
lenes ^  who  had  already  come  in  some  degree 
under  the  influence  of  the  Jewish  faith.  When 
Silas  and  Timothy  came  from  Macedonia  to 
join  him,  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  preach- 
ing,  showing  to   the  Jews  that  the   Messiah 

*  Hellenes  in  Corinth  are  the  natives  of  Hellas 
(Greece),  as  distinguished  from  the  Roman  citizens 
who  formed  the  aristocracy  of  the  colony.  Hellenes 
in  the  Asian  and  other  cities  outside  of  Hellas  were 
generally  natives  educated  in  Greek  manners  (Section 
IX). 


Charter  of  Christian  Freedom      235 

whom  they  expected  was  that  Jesus  who  had 
already  Hved  and  been  crucified.  As  in  other 
places,  a  party  was  soon  formed  against  Paul 
among  the  Jews ;  feeling  grew  unusually  bitter ; 
and  Luke  describes  the  situation  in  exception- 
ally strong  terms.  Paul  retired  from  the  Syna- 
gogue, and  turned  his  attention  to  the  general 
pagan  population.  He  found  a  place  of  meet- 
ing next  door  to  the  Synagogue  in  the  house  of 
a  Roman  citizen,  Titius  Justus.^  This  juxta- 
position was  not  calculated  to  sweeten  the  re- 
lations with  the  Jewish  opposition,  and  legal 
proceedings  soon  ensued.  But  in  the  meantime 
Paul  was  encouraged  in  a  vision  to  persevere  in 
his  work.  Such  messages  from  God  come  to 
the  man  who  is  wholly  absorbed  in  his  work, 
and  is  eager  to  find  and  follow  the  Divine 
guidance. 

Some  of  the  Jews,  including  a  chief  of  the 
Synagogue  named  Crispus,  believed  and  were 
baptized;  the  last  duty  was  as  a  rule  left  by 
Paul  to  his  coadjutors  and  subordinates  like 
Timothy.  The  practical  work  of  keeping  a 
congregation  together  by  a  regular  system  of 

*  His  name  was  in  full  probably  Gains  Titius  Justus, 
the  Gains  of  Komans  16  :  23. 


236   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ritual  was  never  undervalued  by  the  great 
Apostle  (as  appears,  e.g.,  in  i  Tim.  2  :  1-8)  ; 
but  he  could  leave  this  part  of  congregational 
duty  to  others,  while  he  devoted  himself 
wholly  to  what  others  could  not  do  like  him, 
viz.,  the  evangelistic  work. 

The  recalcitrant  Jews  brought  a  charge 
against  Paul  before  the  Roman  Governor  of 
the  province,  Junius  Gallio,  a  brother  of  the 
famous  philosopher  and  statesman  Seneca; 
but  they  did  not  show  such  skill  in  attack  as 
those  of  Thessalonica.  They  accused  him  of 
persuading  men  to  worship  God  contrary  to 
the  Law.  Gallio  decided  forthwith  against 
them,  refusing  to  listen  to  their  case;  he  de- 
clared that  in  a  charge  of  misdemeanor  or  crime 
he  was  ready  to  hear  evidence,  but  in  a  matter 
of  religion  and  ritual  the  Roman  State  would 
not  interfere.  When  the  Jews  were  thus  ex- 
pelled from  the  court  the  Gentile  crowd,  which 
always  disliked  them,  seized  Sosthenes,  a  ruler 
of  the  Synagogue,^  and  beat  him,  while  Gallio 

*  Sosthenes  became  a  Christian  afterwards  (i  Corin- 
thians I  :  I.)  Some,  however,  understand  that  he  was 
already  a  Christian,  and  that  it  was  the  Jews  who  took 
and  beat  him. 


Charter  of  Christian  Freedom      237 

took  no  notice  of  this  ebullition  of  public 
feeling. 

The  decision  of  the  Governor  was  most  im- 
portant. It  amounted  to  a  declaration  of  free- 
dom in  religious  teaching ;  the  Christians  might 
preach,  and  the  Roman  State  would  not  inter- 
fere with  them,  unless  they  were  charged  with 
some  breach  of  the  civil  or  criminal  law.  Thus 
Rome  became  for  a  time  the  protector  of  the 
new  teaching  against  Jewish  opposition.  A 
decision  by  an  official  of  high  standing  tended 
to  become  a  precedent  guiding  the  judgment  of 
others,  although  in  itself  it  did  not  necessarily 
constitute  a  rule.  Seneca's  spirit  was  similar 
to  Gallio's;  and,  as  Seneca  was  now  and  for 
some  years  later  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in 
Roman  administration,  this  decision  of  his 
brother  was  almost  a  charter  of  freedom  to  the 
Church,  until  the  higher  tribunal  of  the  Empire 
overruled  it  a  good  many  years  later. 

The  time  when  Gallio  governed  the  province 
Achaia  has  been  determined  by  a  recent  in- 
scription ^  as  A.D.  52  (probably  from  spring  52 
to  spring  53).  Paul  resided  in  Corinth  eigh- 
teen months,  and  then  went  to  C?esarea  (and 

*  Found  at  Delphi  during  the  French  excavations. 


238    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Jerusalem),  doubtless  for  the  Passover.  He 
therefore  resided  in  Corinth  from  about  Sep- 
tember 51  to  February  or  March  53.  The  chro- 
nology of  his  second  journey,  then,  is  as 
follows :  he  left  Syrian  Antioch  in  early  spring 
50 ;  spent  April-May  in  Syria  and  Cilicia,  sum- 
mer in  South  Galatia,  autumn  in  the  long 
wandering  that  ended  at  last  in  Philippi;  the 
winter  of  50-51  in  Philippi  and  chiefly  in  Thes- 
salonica;  summer  of  51  in  Beroea,  which  he 
left  about  the  end  of  July  or  early  August ;  the 
journey  to  Athens  and  Corinth  and  a  brief 
residence  in  Athens  filled  up  the  month  of 
August  and  perhaps  a  week  or  two  more. 

Note. — The  reason  why  Paul  is  not  said 
in  Acts  18  :  22  to  have  gone  up  from 
Caesarea  to  Jerusalem  may  have  been  that  by 
some  accident  he  arrived  in  Csesarea  too  late 
for  the  Feast.  Sailing  ships  could  not  count 
on  their  voyage  as  accurately  as  modern  steam- 
ers, and  even  steamers  sometimes  have  a  break- 
down. Compare  his  anxiety  on  a  later  voyage 
as  to  arriving  in  time,  Acts  20  :  16.  That  he 
was  going  to  the  Feast,  according  to  the  Re- 
ceived Text  and  Authorized  Version  of  18  : 
21,  seems  beyond  doubt;  but  the  reference  to 


Charter  of  Christian  Freedom      239 

the  Feast  was  omitted  in  several  of  the  best 
manuscripts  by  a  correction,  which  was  in- 
tended to  harmonize  verses  21  and  22. 


XXXII 

ADVICE   TO   A    NEWLY    FORMED    CHURCH 

/  Thessalotiians  j  :  12-24 

The  first  letter  to  the  congregation  at  Thessa- 
lonica,  the  eadiest  Epistle  of  Paul  that  has 
been  preserved,  was  written  shortly  after  Paul 
had  settled  in  Corinth,  upon  the  arrival  of  Tim- 
othy, who  had  gone  back  to  Thessalonica  to 
discharge  some  urgent  duties  which  Paul's 
sudden  departure  had  prevented.  Among  these 
we  may  probably  reckon  the  appointment  of 
presbyters. 

The  situation  at  Thessalonica  was  similar 
to  that  which  existed  in  the  three  Galatian 
cities,  Antioch,  Iconium,  Lystra,  at  the  time 
when  Paul  had  been  suddenly  expelled  from 
them.  He  himself  returned  to  them  to  give 
them  a  constitution  by  the  election  of  presbyters 
and  by  other  arrangements.  He  was  eager  to 
return  in  the  same  way  to  Thessalonica,  but 
was  prevented  (as  has  been  said  above)  by  the 
power  of  evil ;  and  he  sent  word  to  Timothy  to 
240 


To  a  Newly  Formed  Church      241 

go  from  Beroea  to  Thessalonica  and  there  do 
what  Paul  did  personally  in  the  Galatian  cities 
(Acts  14  :  21  f ;  I  Thess.  3  :  2  f).  Silas,  we 
may  presume,  remained  on  in  Beroea  for  a 
similar  purpose,  and  returned  along  with 
Timothy,  probably  through  Thessalonica.  The 
history  as  narrated  in  Acts  and  the  references 
contained  in  the  Epistle  complete  one  another. 

Tlie  letter,  and  especially  the  concluding 
chapter  of  it,  shows  what  he  thought  most  im- 
portant to  impress  upon  this  congregation,  re- 
cently formed,  inexperienced,  and  still  far  from 
firmly  established  in  morality,  good  conduct, 
and  the  understanding  of  what  true  religion 
means  and  requires,  and  of  what  is  calculated 
to  build  up  a  firm  religious  foundation  for  a 
good  life. 

The  earlier  part*  of  the  letter  is  concerned 
with  matters  about  which  Timothy  had  brought 
a  report  to  Paul — matters  which  might  not 
necessarily  happen  in  every  congregation;  but 
the  conclusion  is  universal  advice,  equally  suit- 
able to  all  persons  young  in  the  Faith,  and 
briefly  summing  up  Paul's  views  as  to  the 
practical  working  of  a  young  congregation. 
The  order  in  which  he  states  the  various  points 


242    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  C/mrch 

that  need  to  be  emphasized  and  impressed  on 
the  Thessalonian  congregation  is  in  itself  sig- 
nificant; and  they  must  be  noted  successively 
as  Paul  mentions  them. 

I.  You  should  understand  thoroughly  the 
character  of  the  officials  who  have  been  chosen 
to  manage  the  Church.  Their  duties  are  three- 
fold: (i)  to  work  in  the  congregation;  (2)  to 
rule  over  and  represent  it  in  a  religious  point 
of  view  (i.e.,  in  the  Lord)  ;  (3)  to  teach  and 
preach.  These  duties  are  not  apportioned,  some 
to  one  class  of  officials,  some  to  another ;  each 
official  takes  part  in  all  three,  though,  naturally, 
each  would  tend  to  give  himself  most  to  the 
department  which  proved  most  suitable  to  his 
talents  and  bent  of  mind.  The  officials  are  to 
be  regarded  with  loving  respect  and  esteem  by 
reason  of  their  work — not  simply  because  of 
their  official  rank,  but  because  of  what  they 
are  doing  among  you. 

That  this  should  be  the  first  point  which  Paul 
takes  up  is  highly  significant.  It  shows  what 
stress  he  laid  on  good  administration  and  good 
government  in  the  Church.  A  well-governed 
Church  will  be  more  effective,  more  vigorous. 
sounder  and  more  moral:  that  is  Luke's  view 


To  a  Newly  Formed  Church       243 

as  shown  throughout  the  Acts,  and  it  is  Paul's 
(as  appears  also  in  other  letters,  and  especially 
those  to  Timothy  and  Titus). 

2.  In  your  relations  with  one  another,  live 
peaceably,  teach  and  correct  those  who  do  not 
keep  step  and  order  in  the  march  of  the  Church, 
cheer  those  who  have  lost  courage,  hold  up  with 
your  help  those  who  are  weak  and  likely  to  fall, 
but  in  every  case  make  great  allowance  for  all, 
and  do  not  be  impatient  with  their  faults  and 
failings.  Never  try  to  revenge  yourselves  on 
one  another  by  returning  evil  for  evil  and  "tit 
for  tat,"  but  always  try  to  find  opportunities 
of  doing  good  to  each  other  and  to  all  the 
world. 

After  the  duty  of  the  congregation  to  the 
officials,  Paul  here  sums  up  the  duty  of  the 
members  to  one  another,  and  the  whole  is  an 
expansion  in  detail  of  the  one  universal  law 
"that  ye  love  one  another."  It  is  particularly 
important  that  the  duty  of  teaching,  which  has 
just  been  assigned  to  the  officials,  is  here  pre- 
scribed for  all  members  of  the  congregation; 
the  same  work  is  suitable  for  both  officials  and 
ordinary  persons ;  the  same  Greek  word  "teach" 
is  used  in  respect  of  both ;  the  idea  had  not  as 


244   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

yet  arisen  that  there  existed  any  separate  order 
of  clergy,  charged  with  the  duty  of  teaching. 
Every  member  of  the  congregation  may  have 
occasion  to  teach  and  admonish.  But,  whereas 
the  officials  are  charged  permanently  and  reg- 
ularly with  this  duty,  the  ordinary  members 
only  perform  the  duty  in  special  cases,  where 
they  see  a  fault  or  a  weakness  and  are  able  to 
correct  it,  and  wherever  some  special  call  is 
apparent. 

The  Greek  word  which  is  rendered  "dis- 
orderly" contains  a  metaphor  which  afterwards 
became  widely  used;  the  Christian  life  is  the 
march  of  the  Christian  army,  in  which  all  must 
keep  step  and  rank  unbroken. 

In  the  last  detail  which  is  mentioned  it  is 
urged  on  these  newly  converted  pagans  that  they 
must  seek  every  opportunity  of  doing  a  kind- 
ness to  those  outside  the  Church  in  the  pagan 
world  as  well  as  to  Christians.  The  old  pagan 
idea  was  that  the  benefits  of  the  common  re- 
ligion ought  to  be  confined  to  those  who  had  the 
right  of  membership,  and  should  not  be  given 
to  others,  as  if  there  were  only  a  limited  total 
so  that  the  share  of  each  would  be  diminished 
if  the  number  of  participants  was  enlarged. 


To  a  Newly  Formed  Church       245 

The  Christian  should  follow  after  that  which  is 
good  toward  all. 

3.  Paul  next  mentions  one's  duty  to  oneself. 
Be  always  full  of  the  joy  of  true  religion ;  make 
your  life  a  continuous  uninterrupted  prayer; 
be  grateful  in  every  part  of  life,  for  God  es- 
pecially desires  to  see  in  you  a  spirit  of  thank- 
fulness. 

4.  There  has  been  as  yet  no  allusion  to  the 
duty  of  assembling  together  in  public  worship. 
This  topic  is  now  introduced;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  the  still  unregulated  and  unformed 
conditions  of  public  worship,  Paul  does  not 
mention  the  manner  and  the  ritual,  but  only  the 
action  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  congregation. 
This  action  was  manifested  most  in  the  public 
assembly,  but  also  appeared  in  other  ways,  in 
sporadic  inspiration  of  individuals,  and  in  the 
heart  of  each  Christian.  The  fire  of  inspiration 
and  enthusiasm  should  never  be  damped  down 
by  cold  treatment  and  ridicule  or  contempt. 
Especially  the  inspired  utterances  which  were 
often  heard  in  those  early  congregations  must 
not  be  despised.  On  the  other  hand  one  must 
not  accept  as  inspired  every  utterance  that  was 
ecstatic  and  unusual ;  many  of  them  were  the 


246   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

result  of  mental  excitement,  not  of  real  inspira- 
tion; all  must  be  carefully  tested  before  they 
are  accepted  as  caused  by  the  action  of  the 
Spirit;  everything  that  is  good  and  has  stood 
the  test  should  be  grasped  and  retained  as  a 
permanent  possession  for  the  Church.  In  test- 
ing these  utterances  the  rule  may  be  confidently 
followed  to  abstain  from  and  reject  every  kind 
of  evil.  If  an  ecstatic  utterance  conflicts  in  any 
way  whatsoever  with  anything  that  we  know  to 
be  good,  it  may  safely  be  dismissed  as  unin- 
spired and  resulting  from  mere  mental  excita- 
tion. 

This  series  of  rules  is  concluded  with  the 
prayer  that  God,  who  gives  the  peace  that  is 
invoked  for  the  Thessalonians  in  the  opening 
verse,  may  make  them  perfect  and  pure  in  their 
whole  nature,  spirit  and  soul  and  body.  The 
God  who  has  called  each  of  you  into  the  Church 
will  do  this  for  you;  the  fact  that  He  has 
called  you  is  the  guarantee  that  He  will  com- 
plete His  work. 


XXXIII 

THE    IMPERIAL   AIMS    OF    PAUL 
Acts  i8  :  PS  io  ^9  ■'  ^^ 

Paul's  third  journey  from  Antioch  began  with 
another  survey  of  the  Galatian  Churches,  his 
eadiest  Gentile  congregations,  which  were  al- 
ways a  special  care  to  him.  Then  he  proceeded 
to  Ephesus,  the  capital  of  Asia,  the  great  city 
on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  ^gean  Sea,  looking 
across  the  sea  westwards  towards  Corinth  and 
Rome,  while  it  was  the  end  of  many  roads 
which  came  from  the  East  and  converged  here 
at  the  harbour  from  which  travellers  sailed  to- 
wards the  capital  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Thus 
at  last  he  carried  into  effect  the  intention  which 
he  had  in  mind,  when  he  was  leaving  Galatia 
on  his  second  journey,  and  which  the  Spirit 
had  forbidden,  Acts  i6  :  7. 

At  Ephesus  the  new  religion  had  already 
planted  itself,  but  only  in  an  imperfect  form, 
which  is  called  by  Luke  ''the  baptism  of  John" : 
it  was  a  teaching  which  concerned  itself  with 

247 


248    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

the  Messiah,  and  regarded  Jesus  as  having  ful- 
filled the  Messianic  prophecies,  but  which  ap- 
parently failed  to  comprehend  the  purpose  of 
Jesus'  death  and  the  power  of  the  Cross  in  the 
salvation  of  mankind.  It  did  not,  therefore, 
carry  with  it  that  intensity  of  enthusiasm  and 
that  burning  fire  of  belief,  which  was  recog- 
nized by  the  early  Christians  as  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

Priscilla  and  Aquila,  who  had  left  Corinth 
along  with  Paul,  settled  in  Ephesus  while  he 
went  to  Csesarea  and  Antioch ;  and  they  exerted 
some  influence  in  making  known  the  gospel  as 
Paul  taught  it.  Especially  this  was  the  case  in 
regard  to  a  learned  and  eloquent  Jew  from 
Alexandria,  named  Apollos,  who  came  and 
preached  the  baptism  of  John  in  Ephesus.  They 
instructed  this  man  more  carefully  in  the  Way 
of  the  Lord,  as  they  had  learned  it  from  Paul. 
When  Apollos  was  going  on  a  missionary 
tour  to  Corinth,  they  gave  him  letters  to  the 
Church  there ;  and  his  work  was  very  effective 
in  the  great  city  of  Achaia,  both  in  helping  the 
Christians  and  in  confuting  the  Jews  by  proving 
from  the  Prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  that 
Jesus  was  the  Messiah. 


The  Imperial  Aims  of  Paul       249 

Luke's  purpose  in  dwelling  on  this  episode 
is  to  show  that  even  Apollos's  teaching  at  Cor- 
inth was  Pauline  in  character  and  owed  its  ef- 
fectiveness largely  to  the  ideas  of  Paul  learned 
through  Paul's  two  disciples.  We,  who  are 
accustomed  to  regard  Paul's  teaching  as  the 
chief  power  in  spreading  the  new  Faith,  realize 
only  with  an  effort  the  circumstances  amid 
which  Luke  wrote  his  history,  when  the  effect- 
iveness and  value  of  Paul's  work  was  the  sub- 
ject of  sharp  discussion,  and  when  many  de- 
dared  that  the  learned  and  philosophical  preach- 
ing of  Apollos  had  done  more  in  Corinth  than 
Paul's  teaching,  and  that  there  was  a  Christian 
congregation  in  Ephesus  before  Paul  went 
there.  Accordingly,  Luke  shows  also  that  these 
early  Ephesian  disciples,  real  Christians  in  a 
sense,  had  neither  received  nor  heard  about  the 
Holy  Spirit  until  Paul  came;  and  it  was 
through  the  laying  of  Paul's  hands  on  them 
that  they  received  the  supreme  gift. 

The  Jews  in  Ephesus  were  less  hostile  at 
first  than  in  most  cities ;  and  Paul  preached  in 
the  Synagogue  for  three  months,  an  unusually 
long  period  of  friendliness.  Then  hostility 
arose,  and  the  Apostle  had  to  leave  the  Syn- 


250  Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

agogue  and  go  direct  to  the  Gentiles,  making 
the  lecture-room  of  Tyrannus  his  centre,  where 
every  day  he  taught  for  five  hours,  from  one 
hour  before  midday  till  tw^o  hours  before  sun- 
set ;  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day-  the  room  was 
used  for  other  purposes,  i.e.,  doubtless  for  the 
teaching  of  Tyrannus  himself. 

Two  years  were  spent  in  this  kind  of  work; 
and,  as  Ephesus  was  the  commercial  capital  of 
the  Roman  province  Asia,  and  was  visited  for 
trade  and  other  reasons  by  great  numbers  from 
other  Asian  centres,  every  city  in  the  province 
was  affected  to  some  degree,  and  congregations 
were  formed  in  places  like  Colossae,  Hierapolis 
and  Laodicea,  which  Paul  did  not  himself  visit. 
Probably  some  of  his  coadjutors  and  subordi- 
nates visited  these  and  other  cities,  while  Paul 
himself  preached  to  the  great  mixed  audiences 
in  Ephesus. 

The  effect  produced  was  evidently  very  great, 
both  on  the  listeners  and  on  Paul  himself.  In 
the  first  place  his  plans  grew  wider  and  more 
imperial,  as  he  became  more  clearly  conscious 
of  the  possibilities  of  the  situation  in  the  Ro- 
man world ;  and  Luke  marks  the  growing  clear- 
ness and  breadth  of  Paul's  outlook,  by  placing  at 


The  Imperial  Aims  of  Paul       25 1 

this  point  his  first  statement  of  the  boldness  and 
all-embracing  nature  of  his  plans.  He  ''spoke 
boldly."  As  Luke  has  already  described  his 
preaching  in  so  many  Gentile  cities,  there  was 
some  special  reason  why  he  emphasizes  the 
boldness  of  Paul's  preaching  in  Ephesus.  Fur- 
ther, Luke  describes  Paul's  great  scheme,  first 
to  complete  the  evangelization  of  the  two  prov- 
inces, Macedonia  and  Achaia,  by  personal 
work,  then  after  visiting  Jerusalem  to  go  to 
Rome  and  mould  the  character  of  the  infant 
Church  there,  as  he  had  affected  the  views  and 
character  of  the  disciples  whom  he  found  in 
Ephesus. 

The  brief  statement  about  Jerusalem  con- 
tains an  essential  part  of  Paul's  purpose,  which 
was  apparently  so  well  known  to  the  readers 
of  Luke's  work  that  it  is  not  formally  mentioned 
by  him,  but  only  casually  alluded  to  here  and  in 
24  :  17.  Yet,  by  comparison  with  Paul's  own 
letters,  we  gather  what  was  its  nature.  The 
new  Pauline  Churches  were  scattered  over  the 
four  provinces,  Galatia,  Asia,  Macedonia  and 
Achaia.  The  ensuing  visit  to  the  last  two 
would  complete  his  work  for  the  present  in  the 
eastern  lands,  and  the  visit  to  Jerusalem  was 


252    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

to  be  the  climax  and  end  of  that  work;  and 
thereafter  he  would  no  longer  go  about  among 
them  preaching  the  Kingdom  (20  :  25),  but 
would  devote  himself  to  work  in  Rome  and  in 
the  West   (Rom.    15  :  24). 

It  was,  however,  essential  to  his  designs  that 
the  four  provinces  should  be  closely  knit  in 
unity  and  brotherhood  to  the  central  Church 
at  Jerusalem.  In  Syrian  Antioch  that  end  had 
been  attained  largely  through  the  kindness 
and  the  help  shown  by  the  new  to  the  original 
Church  (11  :  29  f).  We  have  described  in  a 
previous  Section  the  importance  of  this  act. 
Paul  was  now  again  applying  the  same  method. 
First  in  the  Galatian  Churches,  then  in  the 
others,  he  instituted  a  weekly  collection,  the 
proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  carried  to  Jeru- 
salem by  delegates  representing  the  four  prov- 
inces, as  a  testimony  of  the  fraternal  feeling 
that  bound  together  all  the  scattered  parts  of 
the  one  Universal  Church.  Such  was  the  bold 
and  statesmanlike  plan  which  the  great  Apostle 
was  working  out. 

In  the  second  place,  the  marvelous  power 
which  was  exercised  by  Paul  over  the  minds 
and  souls  and  bodies  of  those  with  whom  he 


The  Imperial  Aims  of  Paul        253 

came  into  relation  is  described  in  striking 
terms.  Numerous  cases  of  healing,  which  be- 
long to  the  category  of  faith-cure,  occurred; 
and  the  Apostle  was  brought  into  direct  an- 
tagonism with  the  magicians  and  others  who 
practised  on  the  superstitions  of  the  vulgar  to 
gain  a  livelihood.  As  in  other  cases  already 
mentioned  at  Samaria,  Paphos  and  Philippi, 
these  magicians  possessed  a  certain  amount 
of  real  knowledge  and  of  the  power  which 
knowledge  gives,  and  this  they  eked  out 
by  arts  of  imposture.  As  before,  the  in- 
fluence of  the  cheat  and  the  charlatan 
yielded  to  the  sublime  power  of  true  faith 
and  true  knowledge.  Some  impostors  at- 
tempted to  use  the  power  of  Paul  by  appealing 
to  "the  Jesus  whom  Paul  preacheth,"  and  were 
signally  discomfited.  The  idea  in  their  minds 
was  similar  to  that  which  had  impelled  Simon 
of  Samaria  to  buy  from  Peter  and  John  a  share 
of  their  knowledge  and  power.  There  is  a 
generic  resemblance,  amid  differences  of  de- 
tail in  all  these  encounters  between  the  new 
Faith  and  the  practisers  of  magic;  and  their 
frequency  shows  how  powerful  an  influence 
was  exerted  on  the  society  of  that  period  by 


254    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

such  persons,  who  combined  a  certain  amount 
of  skill  and  knowlege  with  the  arts  of  the 
charlatan  and  impostor. 


XXXIV 

Paul's  victory  over  the  mob  in  ephesus 

Ac^s  jg  :  2j  to  20  :  i 

The  catastrophe  which  interrupted  Paul's 
work  in  Ephesus  came  at  last  after  two  years  and 
three  months'  residence  (called  three  years, 
20  :  31,  according  to  the  universal  ancient 
custom  of  reckoning  two  years  and  a  fraction 
as  three  years).  It  was  brought  about  not, 
as  usual,  through  the  Jews,  but  through  the 
Hellenes.  In  Ephesus  there  was  evidently 
good  feeling  on  the  part  of  some  Jews  towards 
the  new  Faith,  and  Jewish  opposition  did  not 
go  to  any  serious  extreme. 

Ephesus  was  the  seat  of  the  worship  of  the 
goddess  Artemis,  who  was  reverenced  by 
visitors  from  the  whole  province  Asia  as  deeply 
as  by  the  citizens  themselves.  Her  worshippers, 
whether  native  to  the  city  or  coming  from 
other  places,  used  to  buy  and  dedicate  in  the 
temple  or  carry  to  their  own  homes  images  of 
the  goddess  in  her  shrine.    According  to  their 

255 


256    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

means  these  shrines  were  of  silver,  or  marble, 
or  stone,  or  terra-cotta,  more  or  less  ornamental 
and  expensive.  There  were  images  to  suit  all 
purses.  The  fabrication  of  these  shrines  (naoi, 
as  they  were  called)  was  a  trade  of  importance 
in  the  city,  giving  employment  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  workmen.  Those  who  worked  in  an  ex- 
pensive material,  like  silver,  needed  more  cap- 
ital, belonged  to  a  higher  social  grade,  and 
applied  a  higher  standard  of  art  in  their  work. 
The  whole  business  was  organized  as  a  trade- 
guild,  like  almost  every  trade  in  Asia  Minor, 
and  the  guild  of  "shrine-makers"  was  very 
influential  in  the  city.  Hundreds  of  such 
shrines  are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  provinces 
of  Asia  and  Galatia.  The  silver  shrines, 
naturally,  have  all  perished ;  but  the  less  valua- 
ble ones  remain  in  great  numbers. 

The  teaching  of  Paul  had  produced  such  ef- 
fect in  the  city  that  the  shrine-makers'  sales 
were  seriously  diminished.  People  were  listen- 
ing to  Paul  instead  of  buying  and  dedicating 
shrines.  The  guild  became  alarmed  about  the 
future  of  their  industry.  The  case  was  typical 
of  what  often  occurs  in  the  development  of 
civilization   and    the    elevation    of   the   moral 


Paul's  Victory  Over  the  Mob      257 

standard  of  society.  Trades  which  minister  to 
the  lower  tastes  of  the  populace  dwindle  and 
die :  the  workmen  employed  in  these  trades  are 
thrown  out  of  employment :  these  men  are  often 
not  individually  worse  than  other  tradespeople : 
they  do  the  work  they  were  brought  up  to  do, 
and  take  no  more  thought  about  what  effect 
they  are  producing  on  society  than  other  work- 
men :  they  merely  earn  their  daily  bread  in  the 
line  of  trade  open  to  them.  What  is  to  be 
done  in  such  a  situation?  The  tradesmen  in 
Ephesus  answered  this  question  by  raising  an 
outcry  against  the  new  order  of  things.  Civil- 
ization and  progress  must  give  way  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  workmen  and  the  employers.  A 
maker  of  silver  shrines  named  Demetrius,  a 
leading  man  in  the  trade,  called  a  meeting  of 
the  craftsmen,  and  pointed  out  the  loss  to  their 
trading  profits,  and  the  impiety  and  danger  to 
the  religion  of  the  city,  which  resulted  from 
Paul's  teaching.  This  Paul  (as  he  said)  was 
affecting  seriously  not  only  Ephesus,  but  al- 
most the  whole  of  the  province.  The  prospect 
of  such  loss  to  themselves  and  to  their  goddess 
roused  a  storm  of  indignation;  the  city  was 
thrown  into  confusion ;  crowds  rushed  through 


258    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

the  streets  and  flocked  into  the  great  theatre, 
seizing  and  taking  with  them  two  of  Paul's 
companions,  Gains  and  Aristarchus. 

This  incidental  allusion  throws  light  on  the 
Apostle's  methods :  we  may  take  it  as  certain 
that  he  often  had  with  him,  especially  in  his 
later  years,  a  number  of  companions  to  help  in 
his  work ;  Timothy,  whom  he  chose  at  Lystra,  is 
one  example  of  many  such  associates  added 
to  the  small  company  which  started  from 
Antioch:  Luke  himself  and  Gains  and  Aris- 
tarchus are  examples  of  the  same  class.  Gains 
belonged  to  Derbe,  Aristarchus  to  Thessalonica. 

Paul  wished  to  go  into  the  theatre  and  ad- 
dress the  crowd,  but  his  friends  dissuaded  him ; 
and  some  of  the  Asiarchs  who  were  friendly 
to  him  sent  messages  begging  him  not  to  run 
such  a  risk.  Tlie  Asiarchs  were  officials  of 
the  province,  whose  duty  was  to  regulate  the 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Imperial  religion 
(i.e.,  the  worship  of  the  Emperors,  living  and 
dead,  as  embodiments  in  human  form  of  the 
Divine  power  that  guarded  and  guided  the 
whole  Roman  Empire).  The  fact  that  the 
Asiarchs  helped  Paul  shows  that  at  this  time 
the  Roman  government  in  the  Eastern  prov- 


Paul's  Victory  Over  the  Mob      259 

inces  was  not  unfavorable  to  free  religious 
teaching.  The  attitude  of  Gallio  at  Corinth 
and  of  Sergius  Paulus  at  Paphos  points  to  the 
same  conclusion. 

The  Jews  of  Ephesus  were  afraid  that 
they  might  be  involved  in  the  same  danger 
as  Paul,  their  fellow  countryman,  and  they 
put  forward  one  of  their  people,  named  Alex- 
ander, to  speak  on  their  behalf  and  clear  them 
of  complicity  in  Paul's  action;  but  when  the 
crowd  became  aware  that  he  was  a  Jew,  they 
would  not  listen  to  him.  The  mob  of  Greek 
cities  always  hated  the  Jews,  though  a  num- 
ber of  thoughtful  Hellenes  were  attracted  to 
the  pure  and  lofty  morality  of  the  Jewish  faith. 
The  meeting  was  now  a  scene  of  utter  dis- 
order; many  who  had  rushed  with  the  crowd 
did  not  know  why  the  assembly  had  come  to- 
gether: for  two  hours  all  continued  to  shout 
in  honor  of  "Great  Artemis  of  the  Ephesians." 

At  last  the  secretary  of  the  city,  a  municipal 
official  of  great  importance,  who  was  charged 
beyond  any  other  with  managing  the  delicate 
relation  between  the  Imperial  government  and 
the  municipal  administration,  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining a  hearing.    He  humored  the  crowd  by 


26o   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

stating  in  the  first  place  that  the  city  derived 
its  special  honor  from  being  the  guardian  of 
the  goddess  and  of  her  temple ;  that  was  a  fact 
indisputable,  and  there  was  no  reason  for 
alarm,  as  if  the  goddess  or  her  worship  were 
in  danger.  But  as  to  the  two  men  whom  the 
mob  had  dragged  into  the  theatre,  they  had 
not  been  guilty  of  treason  to  the  Empire  ("rob- 
bers of  temples"  is  a  mere  mistranslation) 
or  of  disrespect  to  the  religion  of  the  city.  If 
Demetrius  and  the  trade-guild  of  which  he 
was  a  leading  member  had  any  ground  of  com- 
plaint against  them,  there  was  justice  to  be  had 
in  the  regular  courts  of  law.  If  issues  of  a 
wider  kind,  touching  the  relation  of  these 
strangers  to  the  municipality,  were  involved, 
such  matters  ought  to  come  before  a  regular 
meeting  of  the  public  assembly;  but  an  ir- 
regular gathering  like  the  present  was  illegal 
and  amounted  to  a  riot.  The  Imperial  govern- 
ment was  always  suspicious  of  popular  as- 
semblies, and  apprehensive  lest  they  might 
try  to  meddle  in  matters  beyond  their  sphere; 
and  there  was  great  risk  lest  the  city  should  be 
involved  in  trouble  on  account  of  the  disor- 
derly proceedings  of  the  day. 


PauVs  Victory  Over  the  Mob     '261 

After  listening  to  this  sharp  rebuke,  the 
meeting  dispersed.  Paul  had  triumphed,  and 
his  enemies  were  discomfited.  The  leading  of- 
ficial in  the  city  had  pronounced  him  and  his 
friends  innocent  in  respect  of  the  graver  mat- 
ters of  treason  against  the  Roman  State  or 
disrespect  to  the  religious  establishment  of  the 
city.  The  Asiarchs,  all  men  of  the  highest 
standing,  representing  the  educated  pagan 
world,  had  taken  a  lively  interest  in  saving 
him  from  danger:  they  were,  as  a  rule,  men 
who  had  held  other  municipal  priesthoods  be- 
fore attaining  the  supreme  priestly  office,  and 
it  was  one  of  the  strangely  ironical  facts  of  the 
whole  situation  that  the  priests  should  help 
the  man  who  was  most  bent  on  destroying  their 
ritual.  But  paganism  was  not  exclusive;  and 
pagans  rarely  objected  to  the  introduction  of 
a  new  god  into  the  Pantheon. 

Luke  does  not  lay  stress  on  the  troubles 
and  dangers  which  Paul  had  to  face  in  Eph- 
esus;  but  from  the  Apostle's  words  to  the 
Corinthians  we  know  that  his  residence  there 
was  a  time  of  great  anxiety.  The  result  of  the 
riot  was  that  Paul  who  had  intended  to  stay 
in  Ephesus  until  Pentecost  a.d.  56,  left  the  city 


262    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

earlier  in  the  year,  and  went  by  Troas  into 
Macedonia  and  Achaia.  Since  he  left  Corinth 
in  spring  53,  he  had  gone  to  Csesarea,  Jeru- 
salem, and  Antioch;  he  stayed  in  Antioch  a 
short  time,  wrote  there  the  Epistle  to  the  Gal- 
atians,  and  afterwards  travelled  through  the 
Galatian  Churches  in  autumn  and  early  win- 
ter 53. 


XXXV 

A  HYMN  OF  LOVE  THE  DIVINE 
/  Corinthians  ij  :  j-ij 

While  Paul  was  never  afraid  to  speak  in  the 
strongest  and  sharpest  condemnation,  if  need 
v^ere,  of  some  serious  fault  in  any  of  his  con- 
gregations as  a  whole,  or  of  any  crime  com- 
mitted by  an  individual,  the  method  of  blame 
was  not  that  which  he  most  commonly  prac- 
tised in  his  letters.  He  used  more  frequently 
the  method  of  praise.  Sometimes  he  encour- 
aged his  converts  to  struggle  on  along  the 
difficult  path  of  progress  by  praising  them  for 
doing  that  which  he  wished  them  to  do,  when 
he  could  see  any  signs  of  their  attempting  al- 
ready to  do  it.  Also  he  frequently  lauded 
highly  a  virtue  in  which  those  to  whom  he  was 
writing  were  markedly  deficient,  without  say- 
ing or  even  hinting  that  they  were  lacking. 

The  correction  and  improvement  of  his 
pupils  was  always  his  object,  and  he  used  every 
possible  means  of  attaining  this  end ;  but  it  was 

263 


264   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

most  akin  to  his  nature  to  encourage  them,  and 
it  wounded  him  to  be  forced  to  blame  or  to 
condemn. 

In  this  case,  when  he  was  writing  to  the 
Corinthians,  he  perceived  clearly  that  one 
quality  was  most  lacking  in  them  and  most 
needful  for  their  improvement ;  and  he  devotes 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  and  exquisite  chap- 
ters in  all  his  letters  to  the  praise  of  the  quality 
which  he  calls  agape,  and  which  the  Authorized 
Version  renders  ^'charity,"  while  the  Revised 
Version  prefers  the  translation  ''Love." 
Neither  term  is  a  quite  satisfactory  equivalent 
to  Paul's  word;  but  "love"  is  as  near  the  truth 
as  our  language  can  come.  We  need  more 
''agape,"  and  our  speech  fails  to  express  exactly 
the  full  force  of  the  quality  which  we  lack. 
Every  nation  needs  more  love.  It  is  the  qual- 
ity which  Jesus  meant,  when  he  gave  the  order 
to  "love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself" ;  it  embraces 
the  most  comprehensive  and  strongest  kind  of 
good-will  to  all  men,  a  deep  and  burning  de- 
sire to  seek  after  the  progress  of  the  race  and 
the  benefit  of  every  individual  with  whom  we 
are  brought  into  relations;  it  is  entirely  unself- 
ish; it  develops  the  side  of  our  own  nature  in 


A  Hymn  of  Love  the  Divine       265 

which  we  can  approximate  nearest  to  the  Di- 
vine nature,  because  it  is  the  human  counter- 
part of  the  feehng  that  God  entertains  to  man. 
Now  it  is  evident  throughout  the  letter  that 
this  quaHty  was  one  in  which  the  Corinthians 
were     distinctly    lacking.       Every    one    who 
studies  ancient  Greek  history  or  the  modern 
Greek  people  recognizes  that  it  is  on  this  side 
that  the  Greeks  especially  require  to  improve. 
They  have  many  excellent  qualities,  but  these 
are  mostly  on  the  side  of  acuteness,  intelligent 
comprehension  of  personal  advantage,  and  de- 
sire to  give  free  play  to  their  individual  nature 
and  character;  and  as  a  race  they  need  to  be 
developed  on  the  altruistic  side.     In  the  Cor- 
inthian  congregation   such  were  the  qualities 
that  Paul  observed — qualities  which  in  mod- 
erate degree  are  good  and  useful,  but  which 
very  easily  grow  too  strong  and  become  dan- 
gerous and  even  faulty,  unless  constantly  con- 
trolled and  directed  by  the  supreme  power  of 
Love,  whose  praise  Paul  sings  in  a  prose  poem 
of  marvelous  beauty.     The  Corinthians  were 
eagerly  desirous  to  attain  excellence,  to  be  pre- 
eminent in  good  and  brilliant  qualities,  to  be 
wise  and  philosophical,  to  understand  the  world 


266   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

in  which  they  Hved,  to  criticize  and  correct 
their  neighbors  and  society,  to  be  prophets  and 
teachers  admired  and  respected  of  all  men.  All 
these  are  laudable  qualities ;  no  one  would  wish 
to  blame  them  or  to  stop  them;  but  all  of 
them  can  easily  be  carried  too  far.  Paul  now 
points  out  that  whatever  excellence  in  any  of 
these  directions  man  may  attain,  whatever 
progress  he  may  apparently  make,  all  is  value- 
less without  the  sweetening  and  refining  power 
of  this  Divine  quality — Love. 

In  praising  Love  Paul  does  not  fall  into  the 
error  of  criticizing  others;  he  does  not  even 
criticize  his  pupils.  He  does  not  suggest  that 
the  Corinthians  lack  the  great  quality.  He  sug- 
gests only  that  he  himself  may  have  too  little 
of  it.  All  hint  of  possible  fault  is  put  in  the 
first  person  singular.  This  is  one  of  the  beau- 
tiful things  in  this  most  comprehensively  beau- 
tiful and  harmonious  "Hymn  of  Heavenly 
Love." 

If  I  have  not  Love,  even  though  I  should 
be  able  to  speak  in  the  most  perfect  human 
fashion  and  even  in  superhuman  fashion  like 
the  angels  of  God,  I  should  be  a  mere  empty 
voice,  **but  a  sound  and  hollow."    All  the  gifts 


A  Hymn  of  Love  the  Divine      267 

of  prophecy,  all  the  vast  range  of  knowledge 
regarding  the  mysteries  of  Nature,  the  mystic 
relation  of  man  to  God,  *'the  vision  of  the 
world  and  all  the  wonders  that  shall  be" — val- 
ueless is  it  all  without  Love.  Faith  itself  is 
nought;  if  I  should  attain  to  that  height  of 
Faith  of  which  the  Lord  spoke,  and  should  be 
able  to  remove  mountains — valueless  without 
Love.  Boundless  charity,  the  giving  of  vast 
sums  to  help  the  afflicted  and  the  starving, 
even  the  charity  that  gives  itself,  the  self-sacri- 
fice which  goes  to  the  martyr's  fire  and  is 
burned  as  a  testimony  to  the  truth — valueless 
without  Love.  However  admirable  and  splen- 
did it  is  as  a  part  of  one's  character,  it  needs 
to  be  completed  by  Love  before  it  attains  to  be 
really  good.  Love  is  wholly  unselfish ;  it  does 
not  resent  injury,  it  does  not  envy  the  good- 
fortune  of  another,  it  does  not  pride  itself  on 
its  own  excellence,  it  is  humble  in  estimating 
itself,  it  is  not  provoked  or  embittered  by  dis- 
appointment. Even  if  it  gains  by  the  wrong- 
doing of  others,  it  is  not  made  joyful  by  the 
advantage  it  has  gained ;  it  rejoices  only  when 
the  right  cause  triumphs,  whether  or  not  it- 
self is  the  gainer  by  the  triumph. 


26S   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Another  of  the  beautiful  things  in  this  chap- 
ter is  that  Paul  ceases  to  speak  in  the  first 
person  singular  when  he  mentions  the  excel- 
lence of  Love.  He  will  not  even  suggest  that 
he  has  himself  this  quality.  He  uses  the  first 
person  when  talking  of  possible  faults,  but  the 
third  person  when  he  mentions  excellences. 
The  passage  is  a  perfect  pattern  of  the  humility 
and  the  unselfishness  which  it  lauds. 

Love  is  the  one  lasting  thing.  Everything 
else,  however  good  it  may  be,  is  evanescent. 
The  prophet  may  lose  his  power  of  prophecy, 
the  wise  philosopher  may  cease  to  be  able  and 
great,  and  his  intellect  may  fail;  for  these  are 
qualities  that  are  in  themselves  partial,  one- 
sided, incomplete ;  they  have  not  attained  to  the 
Divine  power  and  perfection.  But  Love  fails 
not,  and  is  never  lost.  It  is  eternal  in  all  its 
nature,  because  it  is  complete  and  Divine  in 
itself.  In  our  imperfect  human  nature,  when 
we  only  see  a  little  darkly  and  dimly  (as  in 
the  poor  metal  mirrors  of  the  ancients),  and 
fail  to  perceive  in  the  reflected  image  the  real 
character  of  the  thing  itself,  we  attain  to  the 
level  of  the  Divine  and  the  Eternal  only  in 
the  one  thing — true  Love. 


A  Hymn  of  Love  tJie  Divine       269 

The  last  words  of  this  great  chapter  cannot 
be  expressed  in  any  other  way  than  by  quota- 
tion. They  cannot  be  explained,  because  they 
are  so  simple  and  final.  They  stand  there 
once  and  for  ever,  interpreting  themselves — to 
be  read  and  understood  by  all,  but  not  to  be 
weakened  by  the  feeble  attempts  of  a  com- 
mentator. ''Now  abideth  Faith,  Hope,  Love, 
these  three ;  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  Love." 


XXXVI 

Paul's  farewell  to  the 
hellenic  churches 

Acts  so  :  2-38 

Paul's  third  missionary  journey  ends,  like 
his  second,  with  a  visit  to  Jerusalem;  but 
whereas  the  earlier  visit  is  dismissed  in  a  few 
words  (18  :  21,  22),  this  later  visit  is  de- 
scribed at  great  length  and  in  much  detail. 
This  indicates  that  Luke  regarded  it  as  a  crit- 
ical and  highly  important  event  in  history,  and 
it  was  so  for  two  reasons;  first  on  account  of 
its  consequences,  viz.,  Paul's  imprisonment 
(which  like  that  of  Jesus  was  caused  by  the 
Jews  and  carried  into  effect  by  Roman  sol- 
diers), and  his  trial  in  its  several  stages  at 
Jerusalem,  Caesarea  and  Rome;  and,  secondly, 
on  account  of  his  intention  to  make  the  visit  the 
conclusion  and  consummation  of  a  period  in 
his  evangelistic  work. 

The  mind  of  Paul  was  now  full  of  a  great 
idea.  He  was  to  leave  the  Hellenic  lands  and 
270 


Farewell  to  Hellenic  Churches     2  7 1 

the  ^gean  shores,  and  go  right  away  into  the 
Latin-speaking  West,  to  Rome  and  to  Spain, 
and  make  those  regions  the  sphere  of  his  future 
work.  The  end  of  his  letter  to  the  Romans 
(especially  14  :  21),  written  during  the  lat- 
ter days  of  his  residence  in  Greece,  throws 
much  light  on  these  plans  and  on  this  part  of 
Luke's  history.  Before  going  to  Italy  and  the 
West,  Paul's  work  in  the  Hellenic  countries 
should  be  completed  by  bringing  the  Churches 
of  the  four  provinces,  Galatia,  Asia,  Mace- 
donia and  Achaia,  into  closer  relations  with 
the  original  Church  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  feel- 
ing of  brotherhood  and  unity  should  be  quick- 
ened by  the  influence  of  charity.  For  months, 
and  even  years,  those  Churches  had  been  gath- 
ering funds  under  his  directions  through  weekly 
contributions;  and  now,  as  the  final  act,  dele- 
gates from  the  provinces  accompanied  Paul,  to 
carry  help  in  money  to  Jerusalem  and  to  make 
acquaintance  with  their  Jewish  fellow-Chris- 
tians there. 

The  Church  in  Jerusalem  was  poor,  and  it 
was  in  a  position  where  great  service  to  the 
Christian  cause  could  be  accomplished  by  the 
use  of  money.     At  the  great  feasts  Jerusalem 


272    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

was  crowded  with  pilgrims,  both  Jews  and 
Jewish  Christians,  and  there  was  opportunity 
for  beneficent  action  and  hospitahty  on  those 
occasions.  The  pilgrims  were  often  poor: 
fatigue  must  have  fostered  diseases  in  the 
crowded  city;  food  w^as  dear  when  demand 
was  great  and  supply  limited.  Generous  char- 
ity on  the  part  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem  was 
not  merely  right  and  Christian,  it  was  also 
wise  and  prudent,  for  it  was  effective  in  spread- 
ing the  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  in  con- 
ciliating the  good  will  of  the  Jewish  strangers 
who  found  help  and  kindness  from  the  Church 
in  their  need.  Now  this  was  a  work  in  which 
money  could  be  most  effectively  employed ;  and 
Paul's  plan  opens  up  a  great  historic  view  of 
the  circumstances  and  possibilities  involved. 
Such  a  plan  shows  true  statesmanship  and  con- 
structive genius,  building  up  the  fabric  of  a 
great  united  Church,  whose  head  should  be 
in  Jerusalem,  while  its  members  were  scattered 
over  the  whole  Roman  Empire. 

For  this  purpose  Galatia  sent  as  delegates 
Gains  (Derbe)  and  Timothy  (Lystra)  ;  Asia 
sent  Tychicus  and  Trophimus  (probably  both 
of  Ephesus) ;  Macedonia  sent  Sopater   (Ber- 


Farewell  to  Hellenic  Churches     2^2) 

oea),  Aristarchus  and  Secundus  (Thes- 
salonica),  and  Luke  himself  (Philippi). 
Achaia  alone  sent  no  delegate;  but  possibly 
it  requested  Paul  to  act  as  its  representative, 
for  its  contribution  in  money  was  liberal.^ 

The  party  gathered  in  Troas  on  the  Asiatic 
coast.  It  might  have  been  expected  that  the 
visit  would  be  timed  for  the  Passover;  and 
probably  this  was  the  original  intention,  but 
as  Paul  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  from  Cor- 
inth for  Syria,  it  was  discovered  that  the  Jews 
had  a  plot  to  kill  him;  opportunity  for  mur- 
der would  be  easily  found  in  a  ship  crowded 
with  pilgrims.  He  therefore  changed  his  plans, 
and  fixed  Pentecost  for  the  visit  to  Jerusalem, 
while  he  himself  went  to  Macedonia  and  cele- 
brated the  Passover  at  Philippi. 

The  morning  after  the  days  of  unleavened 
bread,  Friday,  April  15,  a.d.  57,  Paul  with 
Luke  started  from  Philippi,  took  ship  at 
Neapolis,  reached  Troas  on  Tuesday  follow- 
ing, and  stayed  there  seven  days,  i.e.,  Tuesday 
April  19  to  Monday  25.  On  Sunday  evening 
the   whole   congregation   met   for   the   Agape 

*  The  text  of  20  :  4  is  incorrect.  The  meaning  may 
be  got  by  omitting  the  words  "as  far  as  Asia." 


274  lectures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

feast  with  the  breaking  of  bread,  and  religious 
services  and  discourse  were  prolonged  first 
until  midnight  and  then  till  daybreak.  At  mid- 
night the  meeting  was  interrupted  by  the  fall 
of  sleepy  Eutychus  from  the  window.  Luke, 
a  physician,  believed  him  to  be  dead ;  but  Paul 
cheered  the  company  by  announcing  that 
Eutychus's  life  was  still  in  him :  the  spirit  had 
not  yet  left  the  body,  and  Luke's  view  evidently 
is  that  the  spirit  was  detained  in  its  flight  and 
life  thus  continued  through  the  power  of  Paul. 
Early  the  next  morning,  i.e.,  Monday,  the 
company  started  from  Troas.  This  allotment 
of  the  days  proceeds  according  to  the  ancient 
rule  of  counting  any  part  of  a  day  as  one  day. 

The  ship  on  which  the  whole  of  Paul's  com- 
pany took  passage  did  not  intend  to  put  in  at 
Ephesus,  which  lay  some  miles  up  a  narrow 
river  and  was  difficult  of  access  for  passing  ves- 
sels ;  but  it  touched  at  many  other  points  on  the 
coast  from  Assos  onwards,  and  it  lay  at  Mile- 
tus for  several  days  taking  or  unloading  cargo. 
Paul  used  the  delay  to  send  for  the  presbyters 
of  Ephesus,  the  officials  who  discharged  the 
duty  of  bishops  or  overseers  in  matters  affect- 
ing the  business  and  common  interests  of  the 


Farewell  to  Hellenic  Churches     275 

congregation ;  and  when  they  arrived  he  made 
an  address  to  them,  which  Luke  reports  fully 
with  graphic  touches,  showing  that  he  was  an 
auditor  and  eye-witness  of  the  scene. 

This  address  is  selected  by  Luke  for  report 
because  it  marked  the  end  of  a  period,  of  which 
the  sermon  at  Pisidian  Antioch  formed  the  be- 
ginning. Paul  indicates  its  character  as  vale- 
dictory very  clearly.  It  begins  as  an  address 
specially  to  the  Ephesians ;  but  as  all  the  dele- 
gates from  the  four  provinces  were  present  the 
speaker  passed  into  a  general  address  to  them 
all  (v.  25).  Such  a  change  is  naturally  made 
by  a  speaker,  and  its  occurrence  in  a  written 
report  proves  that  a  real  spoken  address  w^as 
heard  by  Luke.  Paul  soon  returned  again  to 
the  narrower  address;  a  speaker  marks  easily 
such  transitions  by  tone  and  emphasis,  but 
they  are  more  difficult  to  catch  in  a  written 
report. 

In  accordance  with  its  valedictory  character, 
the  speech  gives  a  review  of  Paul's  conduct 
during  the  three  years  (so  reckoned  after  the 
ancient  fashion  of  counting  part  of  the  third 
year  as  a  whole  year)  which  he  spent  in 
Ephesus ;  and  all  that  he  says  about  his  action 


276    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

might  be  applied  to  his  residence  in  his  other 
Churches  throughout  the  four  provinces. 

In  all  he  had  shown  the  same  humility:  in 
all  he  had  faced  the  dangers  of  Jewish  enmity : 
in  all  he  had  taught  fearlessly  the  truth.  Now 
he  was  leaving  them,  and  they  among  whom  he 
had  preached  should  see  his  face  no  longer. 
The  Spirit  constrained  him  to  visit  Jerusalem; 
and  yet  the  same  Spirit  announced  to  him  in 
every  city  that  imprisonment  and  affliction 
awaited  him;  but  life  was  cheap  to  him  in 
comparison  with  the  unbroken  continuance  of 
his  work.  In  his  life  among  them  he  had  so 
borne  himself  that  he  was  blameless  whosoever 
might  perish ;  he  had  declared  the  whole  truth 
how  they  might  save  themselves.  When  he 
declares  that  he  has  never  used  his  opportuni- 
ties as  a  leader  to  take  the  goods  of  others, 
such  a  disclaimer  may  seem  to  us  rather  below 
the  dignity  of  the  address;  but  Paul  was 
speaking  to  Orientals,  who  are  rarely  scru- 
pulous about  turning  office  into  a  means  of  un- 
fair gain ;  and  he  was  thus  politely  giving  the 
presbyters  advice  against  a  temptation  which 
might  assail  them  in  their  official  life.  The 
standard  of  action  to  which  those  presbyters 


Farewell  to  Hellenic  Churches     277 

had  been  accustomed  in  their  heathen  hfe  was 
very  low;  and  there  was  always  the  danger  of 
a  relapse  into  their  earlier  ways.  Paul  had 
maintained  himself  and  his  friends  by  his  own 
labor,  in  order  to  set  an  example  of  work ;  and 
as  he  spoke  of  his  handiwork,  he  held  up  "these 
hands"  to  his  auditors.  He  concluded  by  ad- 
monishing them,  as  overseers,  to  help  the  weak 
and  to  remember  how  the  Lord  Jesus  had  said : 
"It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 
This  saying  does  not  occur  in  any  of  the  Gos- 
pels ;  but  it  is  a  brief  statement  of  the  purport 
of  many  passages  in  the  Teaching  of  Jesus. 
The  advice  to  help  the  weak  is  specially  char- 
acteristic of  Paul's  sympathetic  nature.  To 
support  the  weak  is  among  the  prime  duties 
both  of  officials  in  the  Church  and  of  every 
Christian  (i  Thess.  5  :  14).^ 

^See  Section  XXXII. 


XXXVII 

THE  PROPHETS  WHO  STOPPED  PAUL 
Acts  21  :  i-iy 

The  minute  detail  of  the  voyages  to  Jeru- 
salem and  to  Italy  is  remarkable,  when  we 
consider  how  careful  Luke  is  to  mention  only 
what  was  important  for  his  purpose  as  histor- 
ian of  the  growth  of  the  Church  through  the 
power  of  the  Spirit.  He  dwells  on  them  in 
order  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  the  crisis 
which  was  connected  with  them.  In  a  similar 
fashion  in  Acts  i6  he  dwells  on  the  details 
of  Paul's  journey  from  Lystra  to  Philippi,  in 
order  to  bring  out  in  strong  relief  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  in  leading  Paul  to  Macedonia  and 
to  Europe. 

But  beyond  this  we  must  recognize  some- 
thing of  the  personal  character  of  the  histor- 
ian ;  he  had  the  love  of  the  true  Hellene  for  the 
sea,  and  he  dwells  with  interest  on  details  of 
sea-faring,  how  Cyprus  rose  out  of  the  sea 
on  the  left,  how  they  passed  Mitylene  and  Cos 
278 


The  Prophets  who  Stopped  Paul   279 

and  many  another  famous  place,  how  the  winds 
drove  them  about,  and  how  they  had  to  haul 
a  little  boat  on  board.  He  had  seen  these 
events,  and  he  gives  bulk  to  the  important  part 
of  the  story  by  recording  what  specially  inter- 
ested him. 

A  coasting  vessel,  which  touched  at  many 
points,  carried  the  party  as  far  as  Patara  in 
Lycia.  There  they  took  passage  on  a  larger 
vessel,  which  was  fitted  for  the  long  voyage 
across  the  Levant  direct  to  the  Syrian  coast 
at  Tyre,  where  they  waited  seven  days  while 
the  ship  was  discharging  cargo ;  and  they  spent 
the  time  in  intercourse  with  the  Tyrian  con- 
gregation. 

Here  occurred  a  typical  incident.  Luke  has 
as  yet  mentioned  only  indirectly  that  in  every 
city  the  Spirit  inspired  men  to  prophesy  what 
awaited  Paul  in  Jerusalem.  In  Tyre  the  dis- 
ciples "said  to  Paul  through  the  Spirit  that  he 
should  not  set  foot  in  Jerusalem."  This  revela- 
tion was,  apparently,  couched  in  the  form  of 
an  order,  prohibiting  the  journey.  Luke  gives 
in  this  a  practical  example  of  the  difficulties 
which  may  occur,  when  congregations  are  to 
a  large  extent  guided  by  inspiration  granted 


28o   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

from  time  to  time  by  the  Spirit.  Not  every 
person  who  is  apparently  inspired  is  free  from 
misleading  excitement,  and  not  every  person 
who  is,  in  a  sense,  really  inspired,  comprehends 
fully  the  message  that  has  been  entrusted  to 
him  to  deliver.  It  is  always  necessary  to  ex- 
amine the  messages  of  apparent  inspiration 
before  we  accept  them,  even  while  we  carefully 
refrain  from  chilling  the  enthusiasm  of  others 
by  unbelief  or  coldness  or  ridicule.  This  is 
Paul's  advice  in  i  Thessalonians  5  :  2\}  Such 
then  is  the  situation  set  before  us  in  the  con- 
gregation at  Tyre.  The  disciples  in  that 
Church,  under  a  real  inspiration  as  to  what 
would  happen  in  the  circumstances  about 
which  all  were  anxiously  thinking,  forbade 
Paul  to  go  to  Jerusalem.  Paul  knew,  how- 
ever, that  such  was  not  the  intention  of  the 
message.  The  Spirit  was  not  forbidding 
him,  but  merely  testing  him.  It  was  need- 
ful that  he  should  understand  well  what 
awaited  him:  it  was  needful  for  the  suc- 
cess of  his  work  that  all  the  Churches  of  the 
Roman  world  should  realize  clearly  what  dan- 
gers he  was  facing  while  he  followed  the  path 
»  Also  I  John  4  :  I ;  see  Section  XXXII. 


The  Prophets  who  Stopped  Pcuil   281 

of  duty.  Hence  these  repeated  warnings.  In 
Tyre  the  warning  was  mistaken  by  tlie  dis- 
ciples for  a  prohibition,  but  Paul  was  not  mis- 
led. For  us  it  is  important  to  observe  how 
Luke's  history  sets  before  us  in  practical  form 
the  situations  and  the  difficulties  with  which 
Paul  deals  in  his  letters.  The  Acts  cannot  be 
thoroughly  understood  apart  from  the  Epistles, 
and  should  not  be  read  without  constant  refer- 
ence to  them. 

When  the  ship  was  ready  to  sail  on  the 
seventh  day,  the  entire  congregation,  men, 
women  and  children,  accompanied  Paul  and 
his  friends  to  the  sea-shore ;  and  they  separated 
with  prayer.  So  ends  this  passing  glimpse 
which  is  given  us  of  the  Tyrian  Church,  one 
of  the  many  which  had  come  into  existence 
unrecorded  along  that  coast.  This  chance  visit, 
and  the  enforced  delay  caused  by  trading  ar- 
rangements, have  preserved  the  picture.  The 
words  which  Luke  uses,  "when  it  came  to 
pass  that  we  had  accomplished  the  days,"  sug- 
gest that  the  delay  was  a  little  irksome,  in 
spite  of  the  kindly  and  gracious  intercourse 
with  the  little  body  of  Tyrian  Christians,  who 
had  to  be  sought  out  in  that  great  city.     But 


282    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Paul  was  eager  to  reach  Csesarea,  from  whence 
the  land-road  to  Jerusalem  began.  He  knew 
Caesarea  from  of  old;  and  he  evidently  looked 
forward  to  meeting  Philip  there  once  more. 
There  was  natural  sympathy  between  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  and  the  man  who  had 
first  broken  the  ties  of  race  and  sect,  and  had 
frankly  preached  to  the  despised  Samaritans. 

In  Caesarea  the  company  remained  a  number 
of  days,  for  the  voyage  had  been  so  successful 
that  Pentecost  w^as  not  yet  arrived.  They  went 
direct  to  Philip's  house,  and  the  time  which 
they  still  had  free  was  spent  in  intercourse  with 
him  and  the  four  prophetesses  his  daughters. 

Our  view  is  that  this  intercourse  had  great 
influence  on  the  composition  of  Luke's  history, 
and  that  Philip  was  one  of  the  authorities  on 
whom  the  historian  most  relied  for  the  events 
narrated  in  the  first  part  of  the  book.  Luke 
does  not  attribute  the  delay  here  to  external 
causes,  as  he  does  at  Tyre.  They  willingly 
spent  the  days  in  the  enjoyment  of  Philip's 
hospitality,  until  the  time  when  they  must  start 
for  Jerusalem.  During  this  interval  Agabus, 
the  same  prophet  who  had  foretold  in  Antioch 
the  great  famine,  arrived  from  Jerusalem ;  and 


The  Prophets  who  Stopped  Paul    283 

with  the  symhohc  action  of  an  old  Hebrew 
prophet  he  showed  how  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem 
would  bind  Paul  and  deliver  him  into  the  hands 
of  the  Gentiles. 

It  is  noteworthy  with  what  insistence  Luke 
dwells  on  these  successive  warnings  which  Paul 
heard  and  disregarded.    A  great  and  justly  re- 
spected modern  scholar  has  pointed  out  that  the 
prophecy  of  Agabus  was  not  fulfilled,  and  has 
made  this  the  ground  for  a  charge  of  careless- 
ness and  inaccuracy  against  Luke.     But  it  was 
not  Luke's  purpose  to  make  Agabus  literally 
exact ;  his  purpose  was  to  tell  what  occurred  as 
it  occurred.     The  prophecy  was  in  a  general, 
though  not  in  a  literal,  way  fulfilled ;  and  the  in- 
cident brings  out  in  strong  relief  Paul's  firm 
resolution  and  his  tenderness  of  heart.     Even 
the  weeping  entreaties  of  his  dearest  friends 
could  not  break  his  resolve,  though  they  might 
break  his  heart.     Perhaps,  also,  Luke  is  here 
again  illustrating  the  necessity  of  extreme  cau- 
tion in  understanding  the  prophetic  messages 
granted  to  the  Church.     Even  Agabus,  whose 
prediction  had   been  so   important   in  an  old 
crisis  of  the  Church,  was  in  this  case  only  dis- 
turbing the  Will  of  God  and  the  great  plan  of 


284   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Paul ;  and  he  was  only  ideally,  but  not  literally, 
accurate  in  his  prediction.  Prophecies  might 
fail  (i  Cor.  13  :   10),  but  Love  never  failed. 

The  journey  to  Jerusalem  was  one  of  sixty 
miles,  and  some  preparation  and  equipment 
were  required  (v.  15).  The  disciples  in  Cses- 
area  aided  and  escorted  Paul.  Horses  were 
needed  to  make  such  a  journey  in  the  two  days 
which  seem  to  have  been  allowed ;  and  the  true 
translation  of  v.  16  is  that  the  escort  conducted 
Paul  to  his  host  for  the  night,  one  Mnason,  an 
early  disciple.  The  place  for  breaking  the  jour- 
ney was  probably  Lydda;  and  there  we  must 
look  for  Mnason's  house.  On  the  morrow  the 
party  went  on  to  Jerusalem,  where  they  were 
welcomed  by  the  brethren.  The  whole  party 
visited  James  on  the  following  day,  and  the 
interview  was  interesting  and  momentous. 

We  are  struck,  however,  with  three  facts: 
( I )  Luke  does  not  mention  the  special  purpose 
of  the  visit  and  the  presentation  of  the  money, 
except  incidentally  in  24  :  17;  (2)  he  says  lit- 
tle about  the  attitude  or  the  hospitality  of  the 
Church  in  Jerusalem  (except  the  emphatic 
''gladly"  in  V.  17)  ;  (3)  he  says  nothing  about 
the  impression  which  the  first  view  of  Jerusalem 


The  Prophets  who  Stopped  Paul    285 

made  on  those  travellers,  though  he  does  record 
their  first  view  of  Cyprus.  One  may  probably 
infer  that  there  was  a  certain  lack  of  sympathy 
between  Luke  and  those  Jewish  Christians  who 
had  remained  in  Jerusalem  and  were  rather  old- 
fashioned.  A  devoted  friend  of  Paul,  he  was 
never  quite  cordial  to  Jews,  who  so  often  were 
hostile  to  his  hero  and  teacher. 


\ 


XXXVIII 

THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  ENEMIES  IN 
THE  PAGAN   WORLD. 

Reineii' :  Acts  14  to  21 

During  Paul's  first  journey  towards  the  West 
it  would  appear  probable  that  he  had  no  definite 
plan  of  work.  He  was  driven  on,  partly  by  the 
command  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  given  through  the 
prophets  as  well  as  spoken  directly  to  himself, 
partly  by  the  overmastering  desire  in  his  own 
soul  to  spread  the  truth  which  he  had  learned. 
These  two  forces  which  impelled  him  were 
really  expressions  of  the  one  ultimate  fact. 
The  Spirit  ordered  him  to  do  what  he  was  born 
to  do.  He  himself  was  eager  to  do  it,  because 
the  impulse  and  the  power  were  in  his  heart  and 
dominated  his  whole  nature.  As  he,  in  after 
years,  looked  back  on  his  past  life,^  he  recog- 
nized that  he  was  before  his  birth  chosen  out  by 
the  purpose  of  God  for  this  work ;  that  all  the 
circumstances  of  his  birth,  his  family,  his  early 

*  See  Galatians  i  :  9  ff. 
286 


The  Church  audits  Enemies       287 

training  as  a  child,  and  his  later  experiences 
as  a  young  man,  had  been  such  as  to  fit  him  for 
the  apostleship  of  the  Gentiles;  and  that 
throughout  all  the  maze  of  his  early  manhood, 
his  studies  in  the  Jewish  Holy  Law  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  his  fanatical  persecution  of  the  early 
Church,  the  Will  of  God  had  been  goading  him 
into  the  proper  path  for  which  he  was  intended. 

That  he  was  conscious  of  this  destiny  when 
he  sailed  to  Cyprus,  we  cannot  doubt:  it  had 
been  expressly  and  repeatedly  intimated  to  him 
by  the  Spirit.  But  how  and  by  what  methods 
he  was  to  accomplish  his  destiny  he  had  to  learn 
in  the  school  of  experience.  He  had  to  begin 
with  tentatives,  he  had  to  try  one  course  and 
another,  even  to  make  mistakes  and  thereby  find 
guidance. 

He  soon  recognized  that  Cyprus  and 
Pamphylia  were  not  his  field  of  work.  After  a 
time,  however,  he  became  conscious  that  the 
Galatian  churches  were  the  beginning  of  his 
Gospel:  there  first  he  had  definitely  turned  to 
the  Gentiles.  Those  Gentiles  to  whom  he  felt 
himself  specially  suited  to  speak  and  called  upon 
to  speak,  were  the  people  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, among  whom  he  had  been  born  a  citizen, 


\ 


288    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

among  whom  he  had  acquired  his  knowledge 
of  Western  civiHzation  and  methods  and 
thought,  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  much. 

Opinion  may  differ  as  to  how  far  he  was 
conscious  of  this  definite  bent  to  the  Roman 
world  in  his  first  journey;  but  there  can  hardly 
exist  a  doubt  in  any  mind  that  he  was  fully 
aware  of  it  in  the  beginning  of  his  second  jour- 
ney. Through  Galatia  he  was  then  directing 
his  course  to  the  great  and  highly  civilized 
province  of  Asia;^  but  his  purpose  was  barred, 
and  he  was  forbidden  to  speak  there.  Only 
after  long  and  perplexing  wanderings  did  he  at 
last  learn  that  the  Spirit  was  shepherding  him 
into  Europe,  to  the  provinces  of  Macedonia  and 
Achaia. 

Yet  Asia  also  must  be  conquered  for  the 
truth,  and  was  the  chief  work  of  his  third 
journey.  Why  this  was  so,  why  he  had  to  go 
first  to  more  distant  provinces,  and  then  fill  up 
the  intervening  gap  by  subsequent  work,  we 
can  only  conjecture.  Perhaps  it  was  in  order 
that  he  might  learn  to  take  wider  views,  and 
that  his  loving  interest  in  his  earlier  churches 

*  The  province  Asia  included  only  the  western  part 
of  Asia  Minor. 


xAJ<AjJU\jJ\* 


The  Church  and  its  Enemies       289 

might  not  betray  him  into  confining  his  atten- 
tion to  them.  It  is,  at  any  rate,  certain  that  this 
was  one  of  the  lessons  which  he  learned  on  his 
second  journey,  for  on  his  third  journey  he 
was  looking  to  Rome  and  Spain :  he  was  bent  .  ^^. 
on  reaching  the  farthest  bounds  of  the  West,  ^^^'^^^^ 
and  afterwards  filling  in  the  intermediate  space. 
There  was  no  longer  any  fear  that  he  might 
narrow  his  interest  to  his  early  churches.  Much 
as  he  loved  them,  he  was  now  resolved  to  leave 
them  to  work  out  their  own  destiny  with  the 
help  of  his  trusted  companions  and  coadjutors, 
such  as  Timothy,  and  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Spirit,  which  was  always  inspiring  those 
congregations.  His  third  journey  was  his  fare- 
well to  the  East,  and  the  prelude  to  a  wider 
work  in  the  West,  as  has  been  clearly  brought 
out  in  the  last  few  sections. 

That  the  progress  of  the  new  Faith  was  mar- 
velously  rapid  is  a  fact  once  doubted  by  modern 
scholars,  but  now  almost  universally  admitted ; 
only  those  who  ignore  historical  evidence  can 
doubt  it.  What  were  the  causes  that  contrib- 
uted to  this?  We  may  assume  here  what  has 
been  already  said  in  the  previous  reviews,^  espe- 

^  Chaps.  13  and  25. 


290    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

cially  as  to  the  power  and  guidance  of  the 
Spirit:  all  that  was  there  said  appHes  equally 
here. 

The  great  fact  in  the  pagan  world  at  this 
epoch  was  that  the  fullness  of  time  was  come. 
The  world  was  in  need,  and  was  conscious  of 
the  need,  of  a  Divine  Saviour.  People  had 
gradually  been  driven  by  bitter  experience  to 
the  conclusion  that  society  was  sick  unto  death, 
and  could  not  be  cured  by  human  means.  The 
attempts  of  philosophy  to  furnish  a  cure  might 
satisfy  a  few  exceptional  minds,  but  could  not 
touch  the  popular  heart.  The  common  man 
everywhere  was  looking  for  Divine  aid,  and  had 
neither  confidence  in,  nor  hope  of,  any  other 
help.  The  doctrine  of  a  Saviour,  God  mani- 
festing himself  in  human  form  to  cure  the  evils 
of  society,  appealed  to  the  heart  of  the  pagan 
world  :  that  was  what  men  generally  believed  to 
be  necessary,  and  what  they  were  looking  for. 

The  enemies  in  the  pagan  world  which  the 
new  Faith  had  to  contend  against  were  many, 
but  three  are  conspicuous: — 

I.  The  paganism  that  ruled  in  the  Eastern 
provinces  was  a  very  degraded  form  of  reli- 
gion, which  had  almost  entirely  lost  the  germs 


The  Church  and  its  Enemies       291 

of  true  insight  into  Divine  nature  and  good- 
ness that  once  existed  in  it.  It  ministered  to 
and  encouraged  all  the  vices  of  society.  It  had 
become  an  unmixed  evil ;  and  there  was  nothing 
to  be  done  with  it  except  to  eradicate  it.  The 
more  educated  classes  of  pagan  society  had 
risen  superior  to  it,  and  had  no  belief  in  it, 
though  they  had  nothing  better  to  put  in  its 
place.  Idolatry  therefore  was  to  Paul  the  great 
enemy :  it  meant  darkness,  degradation,  infamy, 
and  degeneration  for  mankind.  He  desired  to 
make  men  virtuous,  chaste,  innocent,  truthful. 
Paganism  and  the  service  of  idols  not  merely 
failed  to  inculcate  those  goods,  but  actually  pat- 
ronized and  encouraged  the  opposite  vices,  un- 
chastity,  drunkenness,  untruthfulness.  The 
only  redeeming  fact  about  the  established  pa- 
ganism was  its  weakness :  men  set  small  store 
by  it ;  the  very  priests  did  not  believe  in  it. 

2.  Magic  and  witchcraft  often  replaced  the 
belief  In  paganism.  The  gods  were  powerless, 
and  were  recognized  to  be  powerless ;  and  the 
Christian  teachers  were  often  opposed  by  sor- 
cerers, who  made  money  out  of  their  dupes. 
The  events  which  occurred  at  PhillppI,  Samaria, 
Paphos  and  Ephesus,  exemplify  the  nature  of 


292    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tliis  enemy,  and  need  not  be  again  recounted. 
But  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  magicians  were 
not  such  hateful  enemies  as  the  common  idol- 
atry was :  they  possessed  some  knowledge,  per- 
verted and  dangerous  indeed,  but  still  a  sort 
of  knowledge;  and  they  could  recognize  the 
truth  after  a  fashion. 

3.  The  supreme  enemy  was  the  Roman  State 
and  its  religion,  which  consisted  in  the  worship 
of  the  living  emperor  as  the  embodiment  in 
human  form  of  a  Divine  idea,  and  of  the  de- 
ceased emperors  as  deified  in  heaven.  Paul's 
attitude  to  this  enemy  was  mixed.  On  the  one 
hand,  as  being  idolatrous  in  character,  it  was 
hateful  and  abominable.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  as  being  the  power  of  good  law,  of  order, 
and  of  peace,  it  was  in  a  certain  way  the  friend 
of  the  new  Faith.  It  permitted  the  Christians 
to  teach.  It  protected  them  against  illegal  and 
riotous  attacks,  especially  on  the  part  of  the 
Jews.  Many  of  its  officials  were  friendly  to 
Paul.  It  had  a  certain  part  to  play  for  a  time 
in  the  spread  of  the  Faith;  but  ultimately  it 
must  be  destroyed  and  give  place  to  the  king- 
dom of  Christ.  Meanwhile,  it  must  be  obeyed 
until  it  was  altered. 


XXXIX 

FREEDOM  IN  EVERYDAY  LIFE 

/  Cormthiafis  lo  :  2j-jj 

The  Corinthian  Church,  which  consisted 
mainly  of  Greeks  (with  a  few  Romans  and  a 
few  Jews),  had  the  Greek  characteristic  of  a 
love  for  argument  and  theory  and  endless  dis- 
cussion. They  had  caught  up  a  phrase,  which 
Paul  himself  had  used,  "all  things  are  lawful 
for  me,"  and  quoted  it,  apart  from  the  qualify- 
ing and  limiting  context,  in  support  of  argu- 
ments which  Paul  could  not  accept  (6  :  12, 
10  :  23).  Paul  had  been  speaking  in  favor  of 
Christian  freedom:  that  which  is  not  in  itself 
wrong  is  lawful.  So  far,  that  is  quite  true; 
but  it  needs  much  qualification  in  practical  life. 
An  action  may  be  quite  lawful,  but  very  inad- 
visable. A  person  who  is  trying  to  break  him- 
self of  the  smoking  habit  would  not  be  wise  to 
travel  in  a  smoking  carriage.  A  reformed 
drunkard,  anxious  to  do  right,  but  still  weak, 
should  not  pass  through  the  street  where  his  old 

293 


294   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

cronies  are  wont  to  assemble.  As  a  general 
rule,  unless  an  action  tends  in  itself  to  cause 
positive  good,  one  may  well  think  twice  about 
doing  it. 

But  further,  in  all  one's  life  and  actions  it 
is  right  to  think  about  the  effect  that  may  be 
produced  on  one's  neighbors  and  associates,  and 
not  simply  to  consider  whether  it  is  lawful  or 
expedient  or  convenient  for  oneself.  The 
Christian  congregation  is  a  band  of  brethren; 
and  the  interests  of  the  whole  brotherhood 
should  be  considered  in  all  that  one  does.  A 
life  which  is  led  on  the  principle  of  doing  all 
that  is  lawful  for  oneself  is  a  purely  selfish  life, 
and  is  therefore  not  a  Christian  life. 

This  general  rule  Paul  now  applies  to  a  ques- 
tion which  was  much  discussed  in  the  early 
Church,  and  which  presented  itself  in  practise 
constantly  to  every  Christian.  Society  was  at 
that  time  organized  on  a  pagan  basis.  The 
forms  and  ceremonies  of  ordinary  courtesy  in 
private  society  and  in  political  and  commercial 
life  were  pagan  in  character.  Public  meetings 
were  opened  with  pagan  ceremonial :  ought  a 
Christian  therefore  to  refrain  from  using  his 
rights  and  performing  his  duties  as  a  citizen? 


Freedom  in  Everyday  Life        295 

The  giving  thanks  to  God  before  and  after 
meat  took  a  pagan  form,  as  an  "invocation  of 
the  gods."  Was  a  Christian  to  absent  himself 
from  every  social  meeting  in  a  pagan  house, 
and  confine  himself  absolutely  to  the  society  of 
Christians  ?  To  do  so  would  cut  him  off  from 
many  opportunities  of  benefiting  his  fellow- 
citizens  and  of  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  and  would  amount  almost  to  a  ''boycott" 
of  all  non-Christians  by  the  Christians.  How 
far  was  it  justifiable  or  right  to  accept  the  es- 
tablished forms  of  social  intercourse,  and  to 
ignore  the  pagan  character  in  many  of  those 
forms  ? 

This  was  always  a  dif^cult  question,  and  it 
was  answered  in  varying  fashion  by  different 
persons  and  in  different  circles.  Some  were  far 
more  strict  in  this  matter  than  others.  The 
question  answered  itself  in  later  times,  when 
Christians  became  the  majority,  and  the  forms 
of  social  courtesy  took  a  Christian  character. 
But  in  the  first  century  it  was  a  burning  ques- 
tion. It  presented  itself  in  a  very  acute  form 
in  regard  to  the  eating  of  meats  that  had  been 
offered  to  idols.  Much  of  the  flesh  sold  in  the 
butchers'  shops  was  cut  from  victims  that  had 


296    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

been  offered  in  sacrifice.  Many  of  the  dinner 
parties  given  in  society  followed  after  a  relig- 
ious ceremony,  such  as  a  marriage  or  the  com- 
ing of  age  of  a  son;  and  the  flesh  set  on  the 
table  was  that  of  the  animals  which  had  been 
offered  in  sacrifice  to  the  gods.  When  a  Chris- 
tian bought  meat  in  a  shop,  was  he  to  ask 
whether  it  was  sacrificial?  Paul  answers  un- 
hesitatingly, No.  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and 
everything  that  is  in  the  earth  has  been  made 
by  him,  and  all  that  he  made  is  good.  The  ox 
is  good  in  itself;  the  idol  to  which  it  has  been 
offered  is  a  thing  of  nought ;  the  flesh  of  the  ani- 
mal remains  the  same,  whether  offered  or  not 
offered ;  the  idol  has  no  effect  upon  it. 

Again,  if  a  Christian  was  invited  to  a  dinner- 
party by  a  pagan  friend  in  his  own  house,  and 
accepted  the  invitation,  was  he  to  ask,  as  each 
dish  was  set  on  the  table,  whether  it  had  been 
offered  in  sacrifice?  Here,  again,  Paul  unhes- 
itatingly answers:  No.  Eat  whatsoever  is  set 
before  you,  asking  no  rude  question :  courtesy 
requires  this,  and  Christian  principle  does  not 
forbid  it.  Social  intercourse  would  be  impossi- 
ble, and  all  the  amenities  and  grace  of  life 
would  be  destroyed,  if  such  questions  were  ob- 


Freedom  in  Everyday  Life        297 

truded  on  the  company  in  which  one  had  taken 
one's  place.  It  is  open  to  any  one  to  refrain 
from  going  into  the  society  of  those  who  differ 
in  rehgious  opinions ;  but  *'if  ye  are  disposed  to 
go"  into  their  society,  then  the  customs  of  pol- 
ished courtesy  should  be  observed. 

One  exception,  however,  is  made  by  the 
Apostle.  If  some  one  should  challenge  you  and 
pointedly  declare  that  the  meat  set  before  you 
has  been  offered  to  an  idol,  then  you  should  not 
eat  of  it — you  should  refrain,  not  for  your  sake 
and  because  of  your  conscience,  but  for  his  sake. 
He  is  probably  a  person  of  delicate  and  over- 
scrupulous conscience;  and  he  may  have 
doubts  as  to  whether  it  is  right  to  eat  such  food, 
and  yet  seeing  you  eat  he  may  through  shame- 
facedness  be  induced  to  do  what  he  believes  to 
be  wrong  and  eat  like  you.  Thus  your  freedom 
may  be  a  snare  to  your  brother.  This  is  a 
principle  of  conduct,  to  which  one  must  always 
have  regard  in  one's  daily  life :  one  must  think 
not  merely  of  one's  own  feelings  and  judg- 
ment about  right  and  wrong,  but  also  about  the 
effect  which  one's  actions  may  have  upon  fel- 
low-Christians. There  are  actions  from  which 
one  should  refrain,  even  though  one  sees  noth- 


298    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  C/iurck 

ing  wrong  in  them,  simply  because  they  may 
give  offence  or  cause  danger  and  error  to  one's 
brethren  in  the  congregation.  A  Christian  must 
always  sympathize  with  and  be  mindful  of  his 
brother-Christians  and  act  for  their  sake  as 
well  as  for  his  own. 

Yet  while  one  sympathizes  with  the  weaker 
and  more  delicate  conscience  of  others,  and  re- 
frains from  hurting  or  misleading  them,  one 
must  preserve  one's  own  freedom  and  strength 
of  mind.  One  should  in  those  cases  refrain 
consciously  for  the  sake  of  others,  and  not 
lose  one's  own  boldness  and  freedom.  We 
should  not  suffer  their  conscience  to  be  the 
judge  of  our  liberty.  In  such  matters  the  ro- 
bust conscience  is  the  healthy  one;  the  delicate 
conscience,  which  is  always  on  its  guard  and  is 
constantly  in  terror  of  doing  anything  wrong, 
is  weak.  But  one  must  have  regard  to  one's 
weaker  brother,  and  not  allow  one's  own  free- 
dom to  do  him  harm;  though  one  feels  that 
the  true  Christian  is  strong,  bold  and  decided, 
not  weak,  apprehensive  of  evil,  and  timorous. 
Above  all,  one  should  refuse  to  allow  the  w^eak 
to  condemn  the  strong.  "If  I  partake  with 
thankfulness  of  such  meat,  then  I  should  not 


Freedom  in  Everyday  Life        299 

be  condemned  or  evil  spoken  of  regarding  the 
food  for  which  I  thanked  God."  It  may  hap- 
pen that  we  hear  some  weaker  Christians  tell 
with  horror  and  condemnation  that  such  an- 
other dined  with  a  pagan  and  ate  meat  of  an 
animal  that  had  been  slain  in  sacrifice  to  Ju- 
piter or  some  other  idol.  In  such  a  case  we 
should  not  keep  silence  and  allow  him  to  be 
condemned:  we  should  defend  him  and  take 
his  part.  The  main  rule  of  conduct  for  Chris- 
tians should  always  be,  even  in  such  small 
matters  as  eating  or  drinking,  to  consider 
whether  the  act  will  conduce  to  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  enlargement  of  His  kingdom. 
In  His  kingdom  there  are  both  Jews,  who 
are  over-scrupulous  about  small  rules  of  life, 
and  Greeks,  who  are  freer  in  mind.  Let  us 
refrain  from  offending  either  Jews  by  need- 
lessly outraging  their  scruples,  or  Greeks  by 
trying  to  impose  on  them  the  narrower  rules  of 
Jewish  scrupulousness. 

After  writing  this  paragraph  Paul  seems  to 
have  felt  that  something  was  needed  to  com- 
plete it.  We  are  conscious,  as  we  read  it,  that 
in  pleading  for  liberty  he  has  expressed  him- 
self in  terms  which  are  a  little  hard  in  tone. 


300   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

There  is  an  element  which  must  be  added  to 
modify  and  to  perfect  this  tenth  chapter;  and 
through  consciousness  of  this  Paul  adds  in 
Chapter  13  the  wonderful  exposition  of  the 
power  of  Christian  love  and  the  urgent  import- 
ance of  bringing  love  to  bear  on  all  matters  of 
life  and  conduct,  which  forms  the  subject  of 
Section  XXXV. 


XL 

SELF-DENIAL  THE  PROOF  OF  LOVE 
Romans  14  :  10-21 

The  subject  treated  in  Section  XXXIX  was 
one  which  could  not  be  exhausted  in  a  brief 
space.  Paul  returned  to  it  on  other  occasions, 
and  especially  in  a  paragraph  of  his  letter  to 
the  Romans.  How  should  the  Christian  live  in 
the  pagan  world  ?  The  question  is  always  hard 
to  answer;  but  it  was  specially  hard  for  the 
earliest  Churches.  The  situation  was  new.  No 
system  of  Christian  teaching  about  the  mani- 
fold difficulties  of  practical  life  amid  an  alien 
society  had  been  formed.  The  questions  which 
arose  were  often  complicated;  and  it  was  easy 
for  even  a  trusted  and  wise  adviser  to  misun- 
derstand the  full  import  of  each  problem  as  it 
came  before  him,  and  to  lose  sight  of  some  of 
the  many  issues  that  were  involved.  Mistakes 
were  certainly  made  by  persons  whose  inten- 
tions were  good ;  and  wide  differences  of  opin- 

301 


302    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ion  about  the  same  questions  existed  within 
the  Church. 

The  early  Christians,  small  groups  scattered 
over  the  ancient  cities  in  the  midst  of  a  numer- 
ous pagan  society,  had  to  decide  what  their 
conduct  should  be  in  many  delicate  matters  of 
social  conduct  and  etiquette.  Political  meet- 
ings for  voting  or  for  judicial  or  other  pur- 
poses always  began  with  some  pagan  religious 
ceremony.  Was  the  Christian  citizen  to  aban- 
don his  right  of  voting,  to  give  up  all  share  in 
political  life,  and  to  absent  himself  from  all 
public  meetings,  or  should  he  attend  them  and 
take  a  part,  though  only  a  silent  part,  in  a  pa- 
gan ceremony?  All  magistrates  of  each  city 
had  to  take  an  official  position  in  the  many  re- 
ligious rites  which  were  performed  to  ensure 
for  the  State  or  the  city  the  favor  of  the  gods. 
Were  Christians  to  refrain  from  the  career  of 
public  service,  or  could  they  take  official  part 
in  those  rites? 

In  private  life  similar  difficulties  faced  them. 
If  they  went  to  a  social  gathering,  or  a  din- 
ner party,  there  were  pagan  sacred  rites  to 
sanctify  the  assembly.  The  saying  of  grace 
before  eating  and  after  took  the   form  of  a 


Self- Denial  the  Proof  of  Love      303 

rite  in  honor  of  a  false  god.  Yet  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  Divine  kindness  and  grace, 
which  was  made  by  pagans  at  every  meal,  was 
in  itself  a  right  thing,  which  every  Christian 
must  approve  and  regard  as  springing  from  a 
true  instinct,  though  misdirected.  If  .one 
bought  a  piece  of  meat  in  a  butcher's  shop,  it 
was  usually  (as  has  been  mentioned  in  Section 
XXXIX)  the  flesh  of  a  victim  that  had  been 
offered  in  sacrifice  at  some  pagan  temple. 

Thus  the  life  of  a  tiny  group  of  Christians 
in  a  pagan  city  was  compassed  about  with  a 
cloud  of  difficulties.  If  a  member  of  the  little 
congregation  was  to  make  it  his  first  object  to 
avoid  all  participation  in  idolatry  and  all  con- 
tact with  anything  that  had  idolatrous  associa- 
tions, his  daily  life  would  be  spent  and  wasted 
in  investigating  a  multitude  of  details,  since 
he  was  at  every  step  brought  into  some  kind 
of  relation  with  something  idolatrous;  and  he 
would  have  no  time  or  energy  left  for  the 
greater  things  of  life.  He  could  only  with  diffi- 
culty get  out  of  the  presence  of  an  idol,  for 
idols  w^ere  everywhere  in  the  streets  and  in  the 
houses,  painted  on  the  walls,  or  cut  in  stone 
or  wood,  or  moulded  of  clay  or  metal. 


304    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Would  it  be  wise,  or  even  permissible  and 
justifiable,  to  inquire  scrupulously  into  the  his- 
tory of  every  article  sold  in  an  ordinary  shop, 
lest  it  might  have  come  in  contact  with  an 
idol?  That  would  practically  mean  that  the 
Christian  ''must  needs  go  out  of  the  world," 
as  Paul  remarks  in  i  Corinthians  5:9;  for 
there  was  no  room  left  for  them  in  their  native 
cities.  Ought  the  Christians  to  cut  themselves 
off  wholly  from  social  intercourse  with  their 
pagan  neighbors?  If  they  did  so,  they  would 
lose  many  opportunities  of  coming  into  rela- 
tions with  them  and  influencing  them.  If  the 
Christian  were  to  criticize  and  blame  every 
idolatrous  action  of  his  pagan  neighbors  which 
came  before  his  eyes,  he  would  make  life  unen- 
durable for  himself  and  for  his  neighbors. 

The  fact  remained  inevitable  that  the  Chris- 
tian in  a  pagan  city  must  shut  his  eyes  to,  and 
tacitly  acquiesce  in,  much  that  was  idolatrous, 
and  much  that  he  disapproved  and  hated.  The 
difficult  question  was  to  determine  when  he 
ought  to  cease  to  acquiesce  and  begin  to  show 
open  disapproval.  The  question  was  answered 
differently  by  different  persons.  Some  en- 
gaged in  the  public  service,  as  officials  or  mag- 


Self- Denial  the  Proof  of  Love      305 

Istrates  or  soldiers,  and  allowed  the  inevitable 
pagan  rites  to  be  performed  in  their  presence. 
Some  avoided  public  service  as  far  as  possible, 
showing  themselves  far  more  scrupulous  and 
tender  of  conscience ;  and  these  were  blamed  by 
their  pagan  neighbors  as  unpatriotic,  morose, 
and  idle,  because  they  left  the  duties  of  public 
life  to  others  who  were  more  willing  to  work 
for  the  public  good. 

Innumerable  such  questions  faced  every 
Christian  daily.  He  must  answer  them  in  his 
life,  and  the  answers  given  were  necessarily 
various.  From  this  variety  of  conduct  sprang 
another  difficulty.  Those  who  were  scrupulous 
were  apt  to  condemn  those  who  allowed  them- 
selves greater  latitude,  while  the  free-minded 
were  apt  to  condemn  as  weak-minded  those 
who  showed  themselves  more  scrupulous.  It 
was  an  almost  greater  difficulty  than  some  peo- 
ple, who  felt  it  wrong  to  act  with  bold  free- 
dom in  their  intercourse  with  society  and  in 
political  life,  were  yet  so  much  coerced  by  fear 
of  contempt  or  ridicule  from  their  strong- 
minded  brethren  that  they  used  a  freedom 
which  they  felt  to  be  wrong,  and  thus  endan- 
gered their  character  and  conscience. 


3o6    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Paul  has  now  to  lay  down  general  princi- 
ples of  conduct,  which  may  guide  his  congrega- 
tions in  these  minor  points  of  life;  and  his  first 
rule  is  that  Christians  shall  be  slow  to  judge 
one  another.  Neither  should  the  scrupulous 
man  condemn  his  brother  for  being  too  free, 
nor  the  bolder  man  condemn  his  brother  for 
being  weak  and  over-scrupulous.  We  must  all 
be  judged  by  God ;  we  are  all  God's  servants ; 
we  have  therefore  no  right  to  occupy  God's 
place  as  a  judge  of  his  servants.  One  judg- 
ment alone  we  must  rigorously  pass  upon  our- 
selves, that  we  do  nothing  which  may  hinder 
the  moral  development  of  any  of  our  fellow- 
Christians.  It  must  of  course  be  remembered 
that  Paul  is  not  here  speaking  about  the  great 
questions  of  moral  right  and  wrong.  There 
are  cases  where  a  brother  falls  into  real  wrong- 
doing and  crime ;  and  then  it  becomes  our  duty 
to  condemn  and  even,  in  extreme  cases,  to  hold 
aloof  from  the  evildoer.  Paul  is  here  con- 
cerned with  matters  about  which  opinion  may 
reasonably  and  justly  differ. 

The  right  line  of  conduct  will  be  determined 
by  love.  You  may  feel  that  a  meat  is  not  made 
unclean  because  the  animal  was  sacrificed  to  a 


Self- De7iial  the  Proof  of  Love      307 

pagan  god;  but  do  not  wound  a  brother's  feel- 
ings while  you  display  your  freedom  of  mind 
by  eating  it.  Christ  died  to  save  him :  will  you 
not  deny  yourself  in  this  small  matter  to  help 
him?  Will  you  put  a  strain  on  his  conscience, 
and  perhaps  lead  him  into  doing  what  he  thinks 
wrong?  Any  matter  of  food  and  drink  be- 
longs in  itself  to  mere  human  life,  and  is  not 
a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  God;  such  matters 
are  temporary,  evanescent,  and  unreal.  We 
should  live  in  and  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  i.e., 
for  what  is  eternal,  enduring,  and  true;  and 
to  that  category  belong  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Spirit,  not  meats  and  drink. 
These  greater  things  we  shall  attain  by  seeking 
always  to  do  what  will  tend  to  produce  peace 
among  our  brethren,  and  to  build  them  up  in 
goodness  of  character.  In  itself  wine,  like 
meat,  is  not  evil ;  but  it  is  evil  in  its  effect  on  the 
character  and  life  of  society.  Do  not  for  the 
sake  of  a  mere  drink  overthrow  the  work  of 
God;  for  that  is  what  you  do  if  you  help  by 
your  example  to  spread  the  habit  of  intoxica- 
tion. You  will  show  the  true  spirit  of  love  in 
your  action,  you  will  foster  throughout  the 
whole  sphere  of  society  in  which  you  are  placedi, 


3o8    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Chicrch 

the  mighty  realities  of  goodness,  concord,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  if  you  sacrifice  even 
your  freemindedness  in  order  to  avoid  wound- 
ing the  feelings  or  endangering  the  moral  im- 
provement of  your  neighbors  and  brothers. 

Hold  your  own  beliefs  as  far  as  you  can 
justify  them  to  God,  but  let  your  beliefs  be  be- 
tween God  and  yourself.  In  your  action  and 
life  think  of  your  neighbor,  and  show  your  love 
for  him.  It  is  not  your  beliefs,  but  your  con- 
duct and  your  love  and  your  self-sacrifice,  that 
make  your  life.  These  are  the  things  that 
stand  the  test,  and  last  through  time  into  the 
eternal  kingdom  of  God. 

Thus  those  difficult  questions  of  conduct 
which  the  early  Christians  had  to  answer  in 
their  life,  and  many  delicate  questions  which 
we  in  the  modern  world  must  answer  one  way 
or  another  in  our  action,  are  best  solved,  not 
by  abstract  discussions  as  to  what  is  right  or 
wrong,  justifiable  or  unjustifiable;  but  by  ap- 
l)lying  the  practical  test,  which  course  of  action 
helps  our  brother,  tends  to  improve  society, 
and  to  establish  righteousness  and  peace  and 
joy  in  the  world. 

In  this  treatment  of  the  question,  addressed 


Self- Denial  the  Proof  of  Love      309 

to  the  Romans,  one  feels  the  influence  of  that 
wonderful  chapter  about  love,  i  Corinthians 
13.  The  tone  in  which  the  question  is  treated 
seems  gentler  here  than  in  i  Corinthians  10 
(see  previous  Section),  and  yet  the  answer  is 
not  essentially  different;  only  the  tone  is 
changed.  To  the  Romans  Paul  insists  less  on 
freedom,  and  more  on  love.  Freedom  is  a 
noble  thing;  but  love  for  one's  brother  is 
nobler.  The  Apostle's  view  is  practically  the 
same  in  both  passages ;  but  in  the  first  he  lays 
more  stress  on  the  Christian  right  to  be  free, 
in  the  second  he  speaks  far  more  of  the  Chris- 
tian duty  to  act  with  love  and  sympathy.  In 
this  life  of  ours  it  is  usually  far  more  needful 
to  strengthen  our  love  for  our  neighbor  than 
our  desire  for  freedom  to  do  as  we  think  right. 
We  are  all  very  keenly  alive  to  our  rights ;  but 
we  are  not  always  so  vividly  conscious  of  our 
duties. 


XLI 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CRISIS 
Ac/s  21  :  ly  to  22  :  2g 

After  the  informal  welcome  on  the  day  of 
their  arrival,  the  delegates  were  formally  re- 
ceived on  the  following  day  by  James  and 
all  the  elders  of  the  Jerusalem  congregation. 
Luke  was  present.  He  does  not  intimate  that 
he  was  present  at  any  of  the  subsequent  pro- 
ceedings in  Jerusalem  or  Csesarea,  but  when  the 
voyage  to  Rome  was  beginning  he  resumes  the 
use  of  the  first  person  plural.  During  the  in- 
tervening period  he  must  have  been  near  Paul ; 
but  he  was  not  actually  taking  part  in  any  of 
the  incidents  that  occurred,  and  hence  he  could 
not  with  propriety  employ  the  first  person. 
This  is  evident  to  any  one  who  reads  the  inter- 
vening chapters  and  contrasts  them  with  the 
paragraphs  where  the  narrative  is  expressed  in 
tlie  first  person  plural. 

Paul  conveyed  the  salutations  of  the  Gentile 
Churches,  and  narrated  the  story  of  their 
310 


The  Beginning  of  the  Crisis       3 1 1 

growth  and  all  that  they  had  done.  The  elders 
made  suitable  acknowledgment,  and  then 
turned  to  the  topic  which  was  weighing  on  all 
minds,  viz.,  Paul's  danger. 

To  guard  against  this  was  a  prime  necessity. 
The  elders  pointed  out  that  there  was  great  mis- 
apprehension even  among  the  Jewish  Christians 
as  to  what  Paul  had  done  and  taught  among  the 
Gentiles.  He  had  changed  the  front  of  the 
Christian  Church ;  he  had  made  it  look  towards 
the  Gentile  world,  and  he  was  himself  looking 
towards  Rome  and  Spain  for  its  future  growth, 
rather  than  toward's  Palestine.  Even  the  Chris- 
tian Jews  were  suspicious  of  the  change,  and 
there  were  many  thousands  of  them  (chaps. 
4  :  4;  6  :  I,  8  :  I,  9  :  32,  etc.).  Their  sus- 
picions were  fed  by  false  reports  spread  in 
Jerusalem  by  the  Jews  from  Asia  and  the  other 
provinces,  when  they  came  up  to  the  great 
Feasts  in  Jerusalem.  These  declared  that  Paul 
was  teaching  the  Jews  to  abandon  all  the  cus- 
toms of  their  forefathers  and  the  Law  of 
Moses;  and  such  reiterated  reports  (the  Greek 
verb  in  21  :  21  is  far  stronger  than  the  Eng- 
lish ''informed")  had  produced  a  strong  preju- 
dice    against     Paul     among     even-    Christian 


o 


1 2    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 


Jews,  while  the  non-Christian  Jews  were  en- 
raged in  the  highest  degree.  When  great 
numbers  of  Jews,  Christian  and  non-Christian, 
were  collected  in  Jerusalem  for  Pentecost,  the 
situation  was  very  grave. 

James  and  the  elders,  in  this  passage  of  the 
Acts,  are  the  same  persons  who  are  called  in 
the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  13  :  24  ''them  that 
have  the  rule  over  you."  It  is  clear  that  in  that 
Epistle  the  persons  addressed  are  the  mass  of 
the  Palestinian  Christians,  who  were  not  in  per- 
fect agreement  with  their  rulers  regarding 
Paul's  teaching  and  conduct,  and  who  looked 
on  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  with  suspicion 
and  even  dislike.  Luke  here  implies  exactly 
that  situation.  James  and  the  elders,  who  were 
*'the  rulers,"  are  evidently  anxious  that  Paul 
should  now  disabuse  the  minds  of  the  Jewish 
Christians  of  their  misapprehension  and  sus- 
picion regarding  his  action  and  his  principles. 

Luke  does  not  inform  us  why  the  elders  had 
apparently  made  no  attempt  to  explain  Paul's 
real  attitude  to  the  mass  of  the  Christian  Jews : 
certainly  they  speak  here  as  if  the  prejudice 
had  spread  uncontradicted,  and  it  looks  as  if 
Luke  were  thus  indicating  that  the  elders  had 


The  Beginning  of  the  Crisis       313 

not  been  sufficiently  careful  of  Paul's  interests. 
He  does  not  blame  them,  but  he  refrains  from 
praising  them.  Now,  however,  they  showed 
themselves  anxious  to  avert  the  danger.  Prob- 
ably the  coming  of  the  delegates  and  the  full 
statement  of  the  actual  facts  had  dissipated 
some  prejudice  from  their  minds.  Paul's  in- 
tention in  this  embassy  from  the  new  Churches 
to  the  old  seemed  to  be  in  process  of  fulfilment. 

The  suggestion  was  made  that  Paul  should 
display  to  the  multitude  his  personal  obser- 
vance of  the  law.  There  were  four  men  known 
to  the  elders  as  having  taken  a  vow :  these  had 
now  to  pay  their  vow  by  sacrificing  and  by 
shaving  the  beard  and  dedicating  the  hair  that 
had  grown  during  the  month  preceding.  The 
expenses  of  the  ceremony  were  considerable, 
and  rich  Jews  often  showed  charity  by  paying 
the  charges  incurred  by  poor  men  in  this  way. 
It  was  proposed  that  Paul  should  pay  the 
charges  for  these  four  men,  and  should  per- 
form the  ceremonies  along  with  them  in  the 
temple;  and  he  immediately  proceeded  to  act 
upon  the  suggestion.  The  ceremonial  lasted  in 
regular  course  through  seven  days. 

About  the  fifth  or  sixth  day  the  storm  burst. 


3 1 4   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Some  Asian  Jews  saw  Paul  in  the  holy  part  of 
the  temple,  where  no  Gentiles  might  intrude  on 
pain  of  death.  These  Jews  knew  that  he  had 
been  accompanied  by  two  Asian  Gentiles;  and 
immediately,  without  any  investigation,  they 
inferred  (or  pretended  to  believe)  that  he  had 
brought  his  travelling  companions  with  him 
into  the  temple.  They  seized  Paul  and  shouted 
for  help,  explaining  loudly  their  charge  against 
him.  All  the  Jews  rushed  on  Paul  and  dragged 
him  out  of  the  temple,  and  the  officials  closed 
the  doors  (whicli  ordinarily  should  have  stood 
open)  against  the  hated  and  impious  criminal. 
When  Paul  was  about  to  be  murdered  by  his 
assailants,  the  Tribune  who  commanded  the 
Roman  garrison  in  the  tower  of  Antonia 
(which  dominated  the  temple  and  with  it  the 
city),  hearing  of  the  riot,  ran  hastily  down  the 
stairs  that  led  from  the  tower  to  the  temple 
with  a  troop  of  soldiers  and  their  officers,  and 
saved  Paul  from  the  hands  of  the  Jews,  but 
bound  him  with  two  chains.  The  officer  then 
tried  to  learn  what  was  the  cause  of  the  riot; 
but  the  confusion  was  too  great,  so  he  ordered 
Paul  to  be  brought  up  into  the  castle. 

Such  was  the  crowd  and  its  violence  that 


The  Beginning  of  the  Crisis       315 

Paul  had  to  be  carried  by  the  soldiers  up  the 
stairs ;  but  when  he  was  at  the  entrance  to  the 
castle,  he  seized  an  opportunity  of  explaining 
to  the  Tribune  that  he  was  not  a  rebel,  but  a 
Jew  and  a  citizen  of  that  important  city  Tarsus. 
The  fact  that,  at  this  moment,  when  he  was 
bruised  and  doubtless  bleeding  from  the  vio- 
lence and  blows  of  the  Jews,  and  excited  with 
the  struggle  and  the  rescue  from  imminent 
death,  he  should  have  spoken  of  Tarsus  with 
such  pride,  shows  that  the  memory  of  his  own 
city,  the  home  of  his  childhood,  lay  always 
close  to  his  heart. 

Further,  Paul's  every  word  and  act  at  this 
moment  of  supreme  danger  evince  remarkable 
courage,  coolness  and  self-possession.  His  one 
thought  now  was  to  seize  the  occasion  of  speak- 
ing to  the  people,  when  he  had  a  great  crowd 
before  him  with  their  attention  fixed  on  him. 
This  might  be  an  opportunity  of  bringing  home 
the  truth  to  them ;  and,  with  the  Tribune's  per- 
mission, standing  on  the  stairs,  he  beckoned  to 
the  people  and  addressed  them  in  the  national 
tongue,  Aramaic.  The  use  of  the  Semitic 
speech  instead  of  the  Greek  (which  probably 
the  whole  audience  understood,  and  the  foreign 


3 1 6    PictU7'es  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Jews  generally  knew  better  than  the  Jewish 
vernacular)  marked  in  itself  his  claim  to  be  a 
true  Hebrew.  Paul  was  a  good  linguist: 
he  could  evidently  speak  with  equal  ease 
and  power  in  Greek  and  Aramaic :  he  knew  the 
ancient  Hebrew  of  the  Bible;  and  when  he 
planned  to  visit  Spain  he  must  have  been  con- 
fident that  he  could  address  the  audiences  of 
the  cities  there  in  Latin. 

The  speech  which  he  made  on  the  castle 
stairs  was  a  defence  against  the  charges  which 
(as  he  knew)  were  being  privately  made 
against  him,  of  having  forsaken  his  nation  and 
abjured  the  Mosaic  law  and  profaned  the  tem- 
ple. His  plan  was  to  bring  home  to  the  people 
the  real  facts  by  a  sketch  of  his  life,  showing 
how  bigoted  a  Hebrew  he  had  been  from  child- 
hood, how  true  he  had  been  to  the  Jewish  tra- 
dition and  custom,  how  bitterly  he  had  perse- 
cuted the  Christians,  how  finally  he  had  been 
convinced  of  his  error  only  by  the  direct  inter- 
vention and  orders  of  God  himself. 

His  account  of  his  persecuting  "unto  the 
death"  does  not  imply  that  he  had  intentionally 
been  instrumental  in  putting  to  death  other 
Christians  than  Stephen  alone.     The  words  do 


The  Beginning  of  the  Crisis       317 

not  necessarily  indicate  more  than  the  death  of 
one  Christian :  and  the  Jews  had  not  the  author- 
ity to  execute:  only  some  isolated  sudden  out- 
break of  fanaticism  and  murder  under  great 
provocation  might  be  (and  usually  was)  al- 
lowed by  the  Roman  government  to  pass  un- 
punished, but  such  conduct  could  not  be  per- 
mitted to  be  carried  on  systematically. 

For  example,  in  the  present  case,  if  the  Trib- 
une had  been  too  late  in  intervening,  and  if  he 
had  found  Paul  already  dead  or  at  the  point  of 
death,  probably  no  notice  would  have  been 
taken  of  the  crime,  because  the  explanation 
would  have  been  accepted  that  Paul  was  de- 
tected in  the  act  of  bringing  foreigners  into  the 
forbidden  place,  and  that  the  passion  of  the 
mob  was  aroused  to  frenzy.  But  the  Tribune 
succeeded  by  his  quickness  in  preventing  the 
crime;  and  so  it  might  have  been  in  the  case  of 
Stephen,  if  there  had  been  a  sufficiently  active 
and  watchful  Roman  officer  at  hand,  eager  to 
stop  riots  at  the  beginning. 

It  is  to  be  observed  how  much  stress  Paul 
lays  on  the  superhuman  element  in  his  con- 
version. In  this  supreme  moment,  barely 
rescued  from  death,  he  spoke  from  the  depths 


J 


1 8    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 


of  his  heart  the  truth  as  he  knew  it.  He  was 
profoundly  convinced  that  God  had  repeatedly 
revealed  His  Will  directly  to  His  servant.  It 
was,  however,  vain  to  hope  that  the  passionate 
excitement  of  the  mob  could  be  calmed  by  an 
appeal  to  facts ;  and  the  moment  that  he  named 
the  Gentiles,  the  word  recalled  the  crime  of 
which  his  assailants  believed  him  to  be  guilty, 
and  their  frenzy  broke  out  anew. 

Paul  was  then  taken  into  the  castle,  and  the 
Tribune  proposed  to  examine  him  by  torture 
as  a  barbarian  and  a  criminal,  who  would  speak 
the  truth  only  under  the  lash ;  but  Paul  ap- 
pealed to  his  rights  as  a  Roman,  and  proceed- 
ings were  instantly  stopped  and  changed. 


XLII 

THE  REAL  ISSUE  BETWEEN  PAUL  AND  THE  JEWS 

Acts  22  :  so  to  23  :  33 

Althoudi  Paul  was  now  safe  for  the  mo- 


'fc>' 


ment,  his  position  was  still  a  dangerous  one. 
The  first  duty  of  every  Roman  Governor  was 
to  maintain  peace;  if  he  failed  to  do  that,  he 
was  responsible.  Now  Paul  was  a  source  of 
disorder;  he  stood  alone  against  a  nation;  but 
the  nation  would  be  pacified  if  the  one  man 
were  slain ;  and  in  such  a  situation  few  Roman 
officers  would  hesitate  to  take  the  easy  way  of 
securing  quiet,  without  investigating  too  care^ 
fully  the  rights  of  the  case.  The  Tribune  had 
been  on  the  point  of  torturing  Paul  to  extort  a 
confession,  after  which  the  prisoner  would 
have  been  executed  and  peace  restored.  Paul 
was  saved  by  the  influence  and  privilege  which 
belonged  to  him  as  a  Roman.  Yet  even  against 
a  Roman  the  charge  of  having,  however  unin- 
tentionally, caused  a  riot  was  grave;  and,  for 
the  governor  of  such  a  troublesome  populace 

319 


320   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

as  the  Jews,  there  was  always  a  strong  tempta- 
tion to  propitiate  them  by  sacrificing  the  hated 
individual.  One  man  would  die  and  the  nation 
would  be  saved.  The  analogy  of  Paul's  case 
to  the  seizure  and  execution  of  the  Saviour 
must  have  been  present  to  Luke's  mind  in  this 
part  of  his  narrative. 

A  preliminary  investigation  was  held  on  the 
following  day  by  the  Tribune  in  order  to  deter- 
mine the  real  facts,  which  as  yet  he  had  been 
unable  to  discover;  and  he  called  the  supreme 
national  Council  to  help  him  in  the  investiga- 
tion. The  meeting  thus  convoked  by  a  Roman 
military  officer  was  not  a  formal  assembly  pre- 
sided over  by  the  high-priest  in  his  official 
dress;  it  was  an  informal  meeting  of  the  coun- 
cillors aiding  the  Tribune  to  determine  the 
facts.  Neither  the  Council  nor  the  Tribune 
had  the  right  to  condemn  a  Roman;  but,  if 
there  seemed  to  be  a  case  against  him,  a  proper 
report  of  the  facts  must  be  made  to  the  Gover- 
nor of  the  province,  who  was  styled  Procura- 
tor. At  this  meeting  Luke  could  hardly  have 
been  present,  and  his  knowledge  was  probably 
derived  from  Paul  himself. 

The  account  of  the  meeting  is  incomplete;  it 


The  Real  Issue  321 

was  doubtless  opened  by  a  statement  from  the 
Tribune  as  to  why  he  had  called  the  assembly, 
and  what  he  had  done ;  but  Luke  hurries  on  to 
the  point  where  Paul  was  called  to  speak  for 
himself.  The  prisoner  began  with  the  remark- 
able words,  addressed  not  to  the  Tribune,  but 
to  the  councillors  of  his  nation,  ^'Brethren,  I 
have  acted  as  a  citizen  in  all  good  conscience 
before  God  unto  this  day."  The  sequel  shows 
that  these  words  were  in  some  way  peculiarly 
offensive  to  the  Jews ;  and  as  we  do  not  know 
what  had  been  said  previously,  we  can  only 
guess  what  was  the  cause.  There  is  no  reason 
to  think  that  the  Jews  would  be  offended  be- 
cause they  considered  that  the  prisoner  was 
speaking  in  a  self-rigliteous  tone,  for  the  words 
are  only  a  protest  in  Jewish  style  that  he  was 
innocent  and  faithful  to  the  religion  of  the  na- 
tion. But  the  single  word  "acted-as-a-citizen" 
seemed  to  the  Jews  of  Palestine  to  amount 
almost  to  an  unconscious  confession  of  guilt. 
The  accusation  against  Paul  was  that  he  sacri- 
ficed Jewish  customs  to  Greek,  and  he  here 
used  a  word  which  was  characteristically 
Greek,  and  which  assimilated  the  Jewish  life 
under  Divine  rule  to  the  godless,   free,  self- 


32  2    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

governing  life  of  Greek  citizens.  The  thought 
and  word  constituted  an  insult  to  the  Hebrew 
spirit,  and  the  high-priest  Ananias  bade  those 
who  were  beside  Paul  smite  him  on  the  mouth. 

Paul's  indignation  at  such  treatment  flamed 
out  in  the  disrespectful  passionate  words  of 
verse  3.  He  did  not  know  that  it  was  the  high- 
priest  who  had  spoken,  for  he  had  been  absent 
from  Jerusalem  (except  perhaps  in  18  :  22) 
since  Ananias  was  appointed;  and  the  latter 
was  sitting  as  an  ordinary  member  of  the  Coun- 
cil with  a  Roman  presiding.  His  hot  retort 
roused  a  cry  of  horror,  ''answerest  thou  the 
high-priest  so?"  Paul,  learning  who  had 
spoken,  apologized  instantly  in  words  quoted 
from  the  Greek  version  of  Exodus  28  :  28 
(dififering  slightly  from  the  Hebrew  version). 

There  followed  an  incident  which  has  caused 
much  difficulty  and  great  variety  of  opinion 
among  modern  readers.  Paul  perceived  that 
there  was  a  want  of  harmony  in  the  Council, 
some  being  Sadducees  and  some  Pharisees. 
We  have  seen  that  the  attitude  of  the  two  fac- 
tions towards  the  Jewish  Christians  was  very 
different,  though  they  were  united  for  the  time 
by  common  hostility  towards  Stephen.     Paul 


The  Real  Issue  323 

had  always  been  a  Pharisee  from  personal 
conviction  and  through  heredity  and  early 
training ;  and  he  understood  the  Pharisaic 
point  of  view.  The  temporary  union  between 
the  two  Jewish  parties  could  not  obliterate 
their  deep-seated  disagreement;  and  Paul, 
who  always  claimed  to  be  still  a  true  Pharisee, 
a  member  of  the  patriot  and  popular  party, 
opposed  to  the  cold  and  aristocratic  Sadducees, 
described  the  nature  of  the  charge  against  him 
in  a  way  Vv^hich  would  attract  to  himself  the 
sympathy  of  the  Pharisees.  Luke  saw  noth- 
ing wrong  or  unworthy  in  this,  and  he  was 
best  able  to  judge.  Paul  was  winning  over 
the  Pharisees  not  merely  to  himself,  but  to  the 
Christian  cause.  He  was  showing  them 
the  real  issue  that  was  involved,  withdraw- 
ing their  attention  from  the  secondary  issue 
of  his  own  personal  case,  and  concentrat- 
ing it  on  the  true  nature  of  Jewish  pa- 
triotism. He  maintained  that  the  true  Jewish 
patriot  and  the  true  Pharisee  should  be  a  Chris- 
tian, as  he  himself  was  a  Pharisee  while  a 
Christian  (Phil.  3  :  6)  :  it  was  only  misappre- 
hension of  the  facts  that  united  Pharisees  with 
Sadducees  against  the  Faith  which  was  bring- 


324    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ing  Judaism  into  its  proper  line  of  develop- 
ment. Yet  Canon  Farrar  in  his  "Life  of  Paul" 
mourns  with  deep  sorrow  over  Paul's  words 
"concerning  the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the 
dead  am  I  called  in  question,"  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  a  clever  trick  of  misrepresentation 
and  special  pleading,  suitable  for  a  smart  law- 
yer, but  unworthy  of  the  great  Apostle.  They 
do  not  misrepresent  the  case ;  they  go  below  the 
surface,  and  touch  the  real  nature  of  the  situa- 
tion. The  hope  of  a  Messiah  could  be  fulfilled 
only  through  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and 
the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  was  the  guarantee  of 
the  wider  hope  for  all  men  (i  Cor.  15  :  14). 
Paul  states  the  same  view  more  fully  in  26  : 
6-8,  where  there  is  no  question  of  a  clever 
trick,  for  there  were  no  Pharisees  among  his 
judges. 

So  keen  dissension  now  arose  between  the 
two  factions  in  the  Council,  that  Paul  was  like 
to  be  torn  in  pieces  during  their  quarrel ;  and 
the  Tribune  took  him  away  to  the  castle  for 
safety. 

In  the  night  that  followed  Paul  was  cheered 
by  a  vision  of  tlie  Lord,  who  stood  by  him  and 
told  him  that  he  must  bear  witness  at  Rome. 


The  Real  Issue  325 

The  great  plan  should  be  fulfilled :  the  visit  to 
Jerusalem,  which  Paul  intended  as  a  prelimi- 
nary to  his  Roman  work  (as  we  have  seen), 
was  to  be  so,  though  the  manner  in  which  he 
should  go  to  Rome  was  not  that  which  he  had 
had  in  mind. 

The  Divine  will  was  working  out  Paul's  in- 
tention after  its  own  fashion;  and  his  life  in 
the  following  years  was  not  arranged  as  he  had 
intended  when  he  spoke  to  the  elders  of 
Ephesus  and  told  them  that  his  work  in  that 
region  was  finished,  and  they  should  see  his 
face  no  more.  He  went  to  Rome,  but  as  a 
prisoner;  and  he  came  again  to  Ephesus  and  to 
Macedonia  to  revisit  his  churches  and  to  com- 
plete his  work.  Luke  is  careful  to  show  that 
at  every  critical  point  in  his  career  Paul  was 
guided  and  informed  by  direct  revelation  of 
God.  This  is  implicated  in  the  structure  of 
Acts;  and  you  cannot  get  rid  of  the  superhu- 
man element  without  discarding  the  whole 
book. 

Next  day  came  a  sudden  change  of  scene. 
Paul's  family,  which  Luke  had  not  previously 
mentioned,  had  not  wholly  deserted  him  when 
he  became  a  Christian.     His  nephew  came  to 


326    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

reveal  a  plot  against  his  life;  and  the  Tribune, 
recognizing  from  the  nature  of  the  conspiracy 
and  the  desperate  character  of  the  Jewish  fan- 
atics that  Paul  was  not  safe  in  Jerusalem,  sent 
him  under  a  strong  guard  to  C?esarea,  which 
was  reached  after  a  journey  on  horseback  last- 
ing through  the  night  and  the  following  day. 
The  letter  which  the  Tribune  wrote  to  the  Pro- 
curator  misstates  the  circumstances,  because 
the  writer  wishes  to  present  his  own  conduct  in 
the  most  favorable  light,  and  pretends  that  his 
action  from  the  beginning  was  intended  to  save 
a  Roman  citizen  from  molestation  by  Jews.  A 
touch  like  this  shows  the  truth  of  real  life:  the 
letter  contradicts  Luke's  narrative,  but  the  dif- 
ference is  due  to  the  nature  of  the  Tribune,  and 
proves  the  excellence  of  Luke's  knowledge  and 
the  accuracy  of  his  history. 


XLIII 

PROGRESS  OF  PAULAS  CASE  IN  PALESTINE 
Ac/s  24 

The  Jews,  finding  that  the  plot  against 
Paul's  life  had  been  foiled  by  the  Tribune's 
action  in  sending  the  prisoner  to  Csesarea,  re- 
solved to  follow  him  and  prosecute  the  case 
before  the  highest  authority  in  the  province. 

The  Tribune  had  shifted  the  responsibility 
from  himself  to  the  Governor,  claiming  at  the 
same  time  credit  which  he  hardly  deserved  for 
zeal  in  saving  a  Roman  from  the  Jewish  mob. 
The  officer  had  been  on  the  whole  kindly  in  his 
behavior  to  Paul  after  discovering  that  the 
latter  was  a  Roman, but  he  exemplifies  the  com- 
mon weakness  and  indecision  of  Roman  ad- 
ministration in  the  provinces,  the  unwillingness 
of  officials  to  bear  responsibility,  and  their 
readiness  to  please  the  populace  even  at  the 
price  of  serious  injustice  to  an  unpopular  indi- 
vidual. We  see  the  same  qualities  in  Felix's 
handling  of  the  matter  during  the  next  two 

327 


328    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

years  (combined  in  his  case  with  baser  mo- 
tives), and  in  Pilate's  conduct  at  Jesus'  trial. 

On  the  fifth  day  the  Jews  reached  Csesarea, 
bringing  with  them  a  professional  legal  pleader 
named  TertuUus  to  conduct  the  case.  The 
hearing  took  place  on  the  twelfth  day  after 
Paul  had  reached  Jerusalem. 

The  ample  space  which  the  historian  devotes 
to  this  brief  period  is  unique  in  the  Acts  and 
shows  his  sense  of  the  critical  importance  of 
what  was  now  occurring.  There  is  nothing 
approaching  to  it  in  the  whole  book  except  the 
proceedings  regarding  Cornelius  and  the  ac- 
count of  Paul's  voyage  from  Syria  to  Rome. 
To  understand  the  character  of  Luke  and  his 
conception  of  a  historian's  task,  the  student 
must  study  with  special  care  those  three  epi- 
sodes in  their  relation  to  the  plan  of  the  work 
as  a  whole. 

The  arrangement  of  the  events  during  these 
twelve  days  is  not  unimportant ;  yet  accurate 
apportionment  is  difficult  owing  to  the  fact  that 
ancient  writers  and  ancient  society  were  not  so 
careful  as  we  in  modern  days  are  forced  to  be 
about  matters  of  time,  whether  in  regard  to 
days  or  hours.     Business  habits,  strict  punctu- 


Paul's  Case  in  Palestine  329 

ality  and  strict  reckoning  of  time  are  modern 
and  Western,  not  ancient  and  Oriental. 

The  probable  arrangement  of  the  twelve 
days  is  as  follows:  we  take  it  that  Paul 
reached  Jerusalem  just  after  sunset,  so  that 
according  to  Jewish  reckoning  this  occurred  in 
the  same  day  as  his  visit  to  James  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning. 

I.  Reception  by  James  and  the  elders:  first 
day  of  purification. 

2-4.  Second,  third,  and  fourth  days  of  puri- 
fication. 

5.  Fifth  day  of  purification:  riot:  Paul's 
speech  on  the  castle  stairs. 

6.  Meeting  of  the  Council  (Paul's  dream 
during  the  night  following) . 

7.  Plot  to  slay  Paul  is  arranged. 

8.  He  starts  for  Csesarea  before  midnight, 
and  reaches  Antipatris  before  dawn:  Ananias 
learns  of  Paul's  departure :  first  of  the  five  days 
(24  :  i). 

9.  Paul  is  handed  over  to  the  Procurator 
Felix  in  Csesarea :  second  day. 

lo-ii.  Paul  in  Caesarea:  third  and  fourth 
days. 

12.  Fifth  day:  arrival  of  Ananias  and  Ter- 


330   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tuUus  in  Caesarea :  Paul  denounced  and  the  in- 
vestigation begun. 

In  the  investigation  held  on  the  twelfth  day 
by  Felix,  Tertullus  stated  the  case  for  the 
prosecution.  According  to  the  rules  prescribed 
in  the  ancient  schools  of  oratory  he  began  his 
speech  with  an  elaborate  compliment  to  tlie 
governor,  designed  to  conciliate  his  favor;  and 
in  complimenting  him  on  the  excellence  of  his 
administration,  the  orator  went  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  truth.  Felix  had  in  reality  been  an 
exceptionally  bad  governor;  and  two  years 
later  the  Jews  complained  to  Nero  about  his 
conduct,  and  he  was  recalled. 

Tertullus  next  stated  the  charges  against 
Paul.  They  are  three,  (i)  Paul  had  been  a 
cause  of  disorder  and  sedition  among  the  Jews 
throughout  the  Roman  world.  This  charge  is  a 
clever  misrepresentation  of  the  fact  that  serious 
differences  of  opinion  among  the  Jews,  some- 
times ending  in  riot,  had  occurred  in  many  of 
the  cities  which  Paul  had  visited;  but  it  hides 
the  truth,  that  the  troubles  had  always  been 
originated  by  Paul's  opponents,  and  that  his 
friends  had  been  unresisting  sufferers.  Still  it 
was  a  dangerous  charge,  considering  the  char- 


Paul's  Case  in  Palestine  331 

acter  of  most  Roman  officials,  who  were  bent 
on  keeping  things  quiet  at  ahiiost  any  cost. 

(2)  Paul  was  a  leader  of  the  Nazarean 
heresy.  This  was  not  a  serious  charge:  the 
Romans  had  no  desire  to  interfere  between  one 
Jewish  sect  and  another :  the  accusation  is  made 
only  to  lead  on  to  the  next  charge. 

(3)  Paul  had  profaned  the  holy  place.  The 
Romans  had  legalized  the  Jewish  ritual  and 
recognized  any  outrage  against  its  ordinances 
as  a  crime.  The  profanation  of  the  holy  place 
would  be  a  serious  outrage;  but  it  would  de- 
pend greatly  on  the  character  of  the  individual 
Roman  governor  what  view  he  would  take  of 
the  offence.  In  practice  the  Romans  generally 
would  have  winked  at  even  the  murder  of  such 
a  criminal  by  an  infuriated  mob,  if  he  were 
caught  in  the  act  and  punished  at  the  moment. 
But,  later,  when  momentary  passion  had  passed 
and  the  crime  was  tried  in  a  court,  few  Romans 
would  have  treated  it  as  very  grave. 

The  weak  part  of  Tertullus's  case  was  that 
he  produced  no  evidence  to  support  his  charges. 
The  accusers  were  there,  but  they  had  no  wit- 
ness :  they  merely  asked  Felix  to  question  Paul 
and  judge  from  the  Paul  answers. 


332    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Paul  in  his  reply  fastened  on  this  weakness. 
Like  TertuUus,  he  began  with  a  compliment  to 
the  governor;  but,  unlike  TertuUus,  he  re- 
stricted himself  to  the  truth.  Felix  had 
governed  the  Jews  for  many  years,  and  the 
prisoner  might  fairly  congratulate  himself  (as 
he  did)  on  speaking  before  a  judge  who  knew 
the  law.  He  denied  that  he  had  ever  carried 
on  any  discussion  with  any  one  in  the  temple, 
much  less  provoked  riot  there  or  in  any  part  of 
the  city ;  and  he  challenged  his  accusers  to  pro- 
duce any  evidence  of  their  first  charge.  To 
the  second  charge  he  pleaded  guilty;  but 
pointed  out  that  to  be  a  Christian  implied  full 
acceptance  of  the  whole  Jewish  Scriptures,  both 
the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  full  confidence  in 
the  hope  of  the  Messiah  and  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion, and  perfect  innocence  and  good  conscience 
towards  God  and  men.  The  third  charge  he 
denied  absolutely. 

The  answer  w^as  complete  and,  in  the  absence 
of  witnesses  to  support  the  charges,  conclusive. 
Luke  mentions  that  Felix  had  a  comparatively 
correct  knowledge  about  Christianity,  i.e.,  he 
knew  in  what  relation  it  stood  to  the  Roman 
law.    This  remarkable  statement  plainly  shows 


Paul's  Casein  Palestine  333 

that  a  Roman  governor  had  already,  when  this 
first  case  came  before  him,  a  fairly  exact  notion 
what  view  Roman  law  took  of  the  new  Faith : 
in  other  words  the  precedent  created  by  Gallio 
in  Corinth  expressed  the  official  Roman 
opinion:  Roman  administration  refused  to  re- 
gard the  preaching  of  the  new  Faith  as  a  crime. 
Felix,  however,  would  not  take  the  respon- 
sibility of  offending  the  Jews  merely  to  do 
justice  to  a  single  person.  He  postponed  the 
trial  for  further  evidence,  thus  giving  the  Jews 
another  chance,  though  at  the  same  time  he 
showed  every  mdulgence  to  Paul,  consistent 
with  safe  custody.  He  even  listened  to  Paul's 
preaching  and,  vicious  and  corrupt  as  he  was, 
trembled  at  the  thought  of  the  coming  Judg- 
ment, yet  his  terror  did  not  prevent  his  hoping 
that  Paul  might  offer  a  bribe  to  buy  release  and 
freedom.  As  Felix  was  a  man  of  high  posi- 
tion and  wealth,  brother  of  the  richest  man  in 
Rome,^  and  husband  of  a  princess,  he  could 
not  have  thought  of  a  paltry  bribe.  Paul's 
antecedents  and  position  (of  which  a  corrupt 
ruler    certainly    informed    himself    carefully) 

*  Pallas,  the   millionaire    freedman    of   the   Emoeror 
Claudius. 


334   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

suggested  the  hope  of  a  bribe  such  as  FeHx 
would  care  to  accept.  This  is  a  proof  beyond 
question  that  Paul  was  believed  by  the  gov- 
ernor to  have  command  of  considerable 
wealth.  Men  like  Felix  do  not  mistake  a  pau- 
per for  a  wealthy  man. 

This  state  of  easy  custody  lasted  for  two  full 
years,  until  the  beginning  of  summer,  a.d.  59. 
We  cannot  suppose  that  Paul  spent  the  time  in 
idleness,  but  no  record  is  preserved,  except  that 
(on  our  view)  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was 
written  in  59  by  Philip  and  the  Church  in 
Csesarea,  under  the  direction  of  Paul,  but  in 
Philip's  own  words  (except  that  Paul  himself 
added  the  last  few  verses). 


XLIV 

PAULAS  APPEAL  TO  CAESAR 
Ac^s  2j  and  26 

When  two  full  years  had  passed  over  Paul's- 
head  in  light  and  privileged  confinement,  Felix 
was  recalled  to  Rome  on  account  of  the  com- 
plaints made  by  the  Jews  against  his  greed  and 
injustice;  and  being  desirous  of  propitiating  his 
enemies  by  some  concession,  especially  one 
which  cost  him  nothing,  he  left  Paul  in  prison. 

Festus,  the  new  Governor,  arrived  in 
Csesarea  during  the  summer  of  a.d.  59.  He  at 
once  made  a  brief  visit  to  Jerusalem,  where  the 
Jews  petitioned  him  to  bring  up  Paul  for  trial ; 
but  he  resolved  first  to  investigate  the  case  in 
Csesarea,  before  granting  their  wish  to  have 
the  trial  in  Jerusalem. 

Again  there  was  enacted  a  scene  similar  to 
the  trial  before  Felix  two  years  previously,  the 
Jews  accusing  Paul  and  bringing  many  charges 
against  him  without  any  witnesses  to  prove 
their  case. 

335 


336    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

We  observe,  here,  that  the  Jews  stood  on  a 
far  higher  plane  of  morahty  than  most  Asiatic 
peoples.  Embittered  against  Paul  as  they  were, 
they  made  no  attempt  to  bring  forward  in- 
vented evidence.  In  trials  there  was  some  re- 
spect for  truth.  Even  the  ''false  witnesses" 
who  gave  evidence  against  Stephen  and  against 
Jesus  did  not  invent  words  which  had  never 
been  used  by  the  accused;  they  testified  to 
words  which  had  been  spoken,  but  which  were 
misinterpreted  and  misunderstood  by  the  wit- 
nesses and  by  all  the  Jews.  The  Hebrew 
people  had  many  serious  faults,  but  it  is  right 
to  acknowledge  that  morally  they  had  advanced 
far  above  their  neighbors.  The  law  of  Moses 
had  produced  an  effect  on  the  race.  They  were 
self-righteous  and  hard,  but  they  aimed  at 
righteousness  of  a  narrow  yet  real  kind.  The 
law  had  been  to  them  a  schoolmaster,  as  Paul 
calls  it,  and  had  placed  them  on  a  moral  plat- 
form fitted  to  bear  the  superstructure  of  true 
Christianity,  whereas  the  pagan  converts  had 
no  such  platform  of  moral  custom  and  educa- 
tion to  stand  upon,  and  Paul  had  often  occa- 
sion to  be  horrified  at  the  hideous  crimes  into 
which  they  could  fall  when  they  stumbled.     It 


Paul's  Appeal  to  Caesar  337 

was  slow  work  to  build  up  this  needed  founda- 
tion of  morality  in  the  pagan  cities. 

At  the  new  inquiry  Paul  again  denied  the 
charges,  and  when  Festus  asked  him  if  he  were 
willing  to  go  to  Jerusalem  and  take  trial  there, 
he  appealed  to  Caesar:  in  other  words  he 
claimed  to  be  tried  before  the  supreme  tribunal 
of  the  Empire,  over  which  the  Emperor,  or 
more  commonly  a  judge  acting  for  the  Em- 
peror, would  preside.  Festus,  after  conferring 
with  his  legal  advisers,  granted  this  appeal,  and 
remitted  the  case  to  the  highest  court  of  the 
Roman  State.  Here  again  we  have  clear  proof 
that  Paul  was  considered  by  the  Roman  officials 
in  Caesarea  to  be  a  person  of  standing  and 
therefore  of  some  wealth.  The  Roman  Gover- 
nor would  not  send  up  for  trial  before  the 
Imperial  tribunal  any  and  every  person  who 
chose  to  appeal.  He  had  to  judge  first  of  all 
whether  the  case  and  the  person  was  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  be  sent  on  to  Rome,  for 
he  had  himself  full  authority  to  judge  and  to 
condemn  or  acquit  in  such  cases  as  this. 

How  did  it  come  about  that  Paul,  who  in  the 
cities  of  Asia  and  Europe  had  maintained  him- 
self by  the  labor  of  his  hands,  appeared  now  a 


338    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Roman  of  rank,  believed  by  Felix  to  be  able 
to  offer  a  bribe  worthy  of  a  rich  man's  accep- 
tance, and  regarded  by  Festus  as  one  whose 
appeal  to  Caesar  must  be  forthwith  accepted? 
Surely  we  must  understand  that  formerly  he 
had  voluntarily  chosen  to  teach  and  exemplify 
the  dignity  of  labor,  that  he  had  deliberately 
elected  to  be  a  missionary  in  the  sense  that 
Jesus  had  ordered,  taking  no  purse  with  him  as 
he  travelled  and  preached,  and  rarely  even  ac- 
cepting food  unless  it  was  earned  by  his  own 
labor:  Philippi,  with  its  generous  hospitality 
and  its  twice  repeated  gifts  of  money  when  he 
was  in  Thessalonica,  being  the  solitary  excep- 
tion which  he  allowed,  and  that  only  when  he 
was  constrained  by  pressing  kindness.  Now 
had  come  the  time  for  a  different  policy.  He 
had  gone  to  Jerusalem;  he  had  faced  death 
there;  and  he  had  received  the  Divine  instruc- 
tion that  he  must  bear  witness  to  the  Faith  in 
Rome.  Towards  Rome  his  face  was  set.  His 
trial  must  be  decided  there,  and  not  in  Jeru- 
salem. He  must  appeal  to  Caesar,  and  in  the 
metropolis  of  the  world  before  the  supreme 
tribunal  he  must  plead  the  cause  of  God  and 
of  the  Church,  hoping  to  gain  a  charter  of  free- 


Paul's  Appeal  to  Caesar  339 

dom  for  the  free  preaching  of  the  gospel  in 
every  city  of  the  whole  Empire.  To  gain  this 
charter  his  rights  as  a  Roman  citizen,  and  as  a 
member  of  the  governing  aristocracy  of  the 
Roman  world,  formed  the  apparent  means. 
Only  as  a  Roman  could  he  be  sent  up  to  the 
Imperial  trilxmal.  Accordingly,  he  adopted  at 
this  crisis  a  different  line  of  conduct  from  that 
which  he  had  pursued  on  his  missionary  jour- 
neys ;  and  in  all  parts  of  his  life  alike  he  acted 
with  the  same  noble  spirit. 

Before  the  Roman  journey  Paul  had  still  to 
undergo  one  more  trial,  and  to  speak  in  the 
presence  of  Kings  and  Governors.  Agrippa 
II  with  his  sister  Bernice  came  to  pay  a  visit 
of  state  to  the  new  Governor;  and  Festus  took 
the  opportunity  of  examining  Paul  with  the 
assistance  of  Agrippa's  intimate  knowledge  of 
Hebrew  law  and  religion.  He  had  to  send 
up  a  report  to  the  Emperor  in  the  case  of  this 
prisoner,  and  he  was  puzzled  to  specify  cor- 
rectly the  exact  nature  of  the  charges,  which 
only  a  Jew  by  religion  could  properly  under- 
stand. 

In  the  examination  Agrippa,  as  a  King,  took 
precedence    and    conducted    the    proceedings, 


340    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  CJiMrch 

while  Festus  sat  beside  him:  ''Agrippa  said 
unto  Paul,  Thou  art  permitted  to  speak  for  thy- 
self." The  prisoner  with  an  orator's  gesture, 
fettered  as  he  was,  addressed  the  King  with  the 
dignity  and  self-possession  that  was  his 
birthright,  without  servility  and  yet  with 
courtly  deference.  Beginning  by  paying  a 
compliment  to  the  King's  familiarity  with  ''the 
customs  and  questions  which  are  among  the 
Jews,"  he  said  only  what  was  true,  but  he  said 
it  with  polished  and  graceful  courtesy. 

Paul's  speech  included  a  brief  autobiography, 
in  which  he  touched  summarily  on  the  chief 
events  of  his  life,  and  more  fully,  yet  still  very 
briefly,  on  the  epoch-making  occasion  of  his 
conversion.  The  apparent  differences  from 
the  accounts  given  of  this  critical  event  in 
chapters  9  and  22  arise  chiefly  from  the  fact 
that  none  of  the  accounts  gives  every  detail, 
and  that  different  details  are  mentioned  in  each 
case  according  to  the  different  purpose  and 
emotion  of  the  narrator  and  the  different  char- 
acter of  the  persons  addressed.  Here,  for  ex- 
ample, where  Paul  was  speaking  in  a  Gentile 
court,  he  makes  no  reference  to  Ananias,  be- 
cause it  would  not  produce  any  effect  on  the 


Paul' s  Appeal  to  Caesar  341 

audience  to  hear  what  part  an  obscure  Jew  at 
Damascus  had  played  in  the  action,  whereas 
that  part  of  the  story  was  Hkely  to  appeal 
strongly  to  the  Jewish  auditors  in  chapter  22. 

Paul  also  laid  strong  emphasis  on  the  prom- 
ise of  the  Messiah,  the  hope  of  the  twelve 
tribes,  and  the  fact  that  this  hope  can  be  at- 
tained only  through  the  raising  of  the  dead. 
He  first  mentions  this  truth  in  more  general 
terms  early  in  his  speech;  and  then  at  a  later 
point  expounds  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  in 
the  Death  and  Resurrection  of  Jesus. 

This  idea  of  the  resurrection  seemed  so  ab- 
surd and  incredible  to  the  rough  and  blunt 
Roman  officer,  that  he  rudely  interrupted  the 
speaker  by  loudly  calling  out,  *Taul,  you  may 
be  a  great  philosopher,  but  you  have  no  com- 
mon sense."  Festus  had  no  prejudice  against 
Paul;  but  regarded  him  with  good-humored 
contempt  as  an  unpractical  enthusiast.  From 
the  Roman  Governor  Paul  turned  with  a  court- 
eous negative  to  the  King,  who  knew  Judea  and 
what  had  happened  there,  and  boldly  put  the 
question  to  him  whether  he,  who  claimed  to  be 
a  Jew,  believed  the  prophets.  Agrippa  did  not 
like  the  question.    He  kept  his  Judaism  for  the 


342    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Jews,  but  was  not  willing  to  display  it  in  a 
Gentile  court.  He  would  not  answer  the  ques- 
tion directly,  for  if  he  replied  in  the  affirmative 
he  would  incur  the  ridicule  of  the  Romans, 
and  if  he  answered  in  the  negative  he  would 
sacrifice  his  reputation  with  the  Jews.  He 
therefore  turned  aside  the  question  by  a  half- 
jesting,  half-ironical  remark:  "You  expect  to 
make  a  Christian  of  me  in  very  quick  time." 

The  universal  opinion  of  the  court  was  that 
Paul  was  not  guilty.  He  might  be  a  hair- 
brained  enthusiast,  but  he  was  not  a  criminal; 
and  Agrippa  declared  that  he  might  have  been 
set  at  liberty,  had  the  case  not  passed  beyond 
their  jurisdiction  through  the  prisoner's  appeal 
to  Caesar.  Thus  it  came  about  that,  instead  of 
being  released,  Paul,  though  practically  ac- 
quitted, was  through  his  own  demand  sent  on 
to  ''bear  witness  also  at  Rome." 

The  emphatic  declaration  of  Paul's  inno- 
cence with  which  the  long  proceedings  in  Pales- 
tine ended  is  noteworthy.  Luke  is  careful  to 
record  that  time  after  time  the  Roman  officials, 
such  as  Gallio,  justified  Paul  and  took  his  part 
against  the  Jews;  and  he  alone  among  the 
Evangelists    records    Pilate's    thrice-repeated 


Paul 's  Appeal  to  Caesar  343 

statement  acquitting  Jesus  of  all  faults  before 
the  law  (whereas  Mark  omits  it  wholly,  John 
and  Matthew  mention  only  one  occasion). 


XLV 

PAUL   TAKES    COMMAND   WHEN 
DANGER   THREATENS 

Ac^s  2y  :  1-26 

When  the  decision  had  been  ratified  by  the 
agreement  of  the  Roman  Procurator  and  the 
Jewish  King  that  Paul's  appeal  to  the  supreme 
Imperial  tribunal  must  be  accepted  and  his 
case  sent  on  to  Rome  for  judgment,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  no  further  time  was  lost.  Festus  had 
reached  Palestine,  probably,  early  in  the  sum- 
mer ;  but  the  process  had  dragged  on  for  some 
considerable  time,  and  the  autumn  w^as  now 
approaching  or  perhaps  had  begun. 

The  lateness  of  the  season  affected  the  choice 
of  route.  The  quickest  and  least  fatiguing  way 
was  by  sea ;  but  between  late  autumn  and  early 
spring  long  voyages  ceased  and  what  may  be 
called  ocean-going  ships  lay  up  (though  there 
was  no  season  when  ships  could  not  be  hired 
to  take  short  voyages,  watching  for  a  fair  op- 
portunity). During  the  season  when  distant 
344 


Paul  Takes  Command  345 

navigation  was  avoided,  the  journey  from  the 
East  to  Rome  was  performed  by  land  through 
Galatia,  Asia,  Philippi  and  Thessaloncia. 

On  these  customs  in  regard  to  the  way  of 
travelling  the  whole  of  Paul's  voyage  turned. 
The  end  of  the  settled  season,  when  the  Medi- 
terranean is  continuously  suited  for  sailing 
vessels,  was  close  at  hand,  and  there  was  every 
probability  that  the  land  route  would  have  to  be 
chosen  for  part  of  the  way.  The  centurion 
Julius,  into  whose  charge  Paul  was  put  with  a 
number  of  other  prisoners,  took  passage  in  a 
ship  bound  for  Adramyttium  on  the  coast  of 
Asia.  If  no  better  opportunity  occurred  by 
the  way,  it  would  be  easy  to  get  a  passage 
across  to  Neapolis  (16  :  11),  and  thence  the 
convoy  would  take  the  land  route.  The 
other  prisoners  were,  as  a  rule,  doubtless 
criminals,  who  were  being  taken  to  Rome 
to  amuse  by  their  death  in  the  arena  the 
idle  populace,  habituated  to  enjoy  such 
cruel  sights.  Few  persons  had,  like  Paul, 
the  distinction  of  being  remitted  for  trial  to  the 
highest  court  of  the  Empire. 

The  prevailing  winds  on  the  open  Mediter- 
ranean throughout  the  summer  are  westerly, 


346    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

favoring  the  voyage  from  Italy  to  Egypt  and 
Syria,  but  making  the  return  voyage  difficult. 
The  only  way  to  sail  from  Caesarea  to  Italy  or 
to  Adramyttium  was  to  keep  close  to  the  coast, 
and  take  advantage  of  the  local  breezes  to 
dodge  along  from  point  to  point  as  a  chance 
occurred.  Such  voyages  were  oiten  extremely 
slow,  and  at  the  best  many  days  and  much 
patience  were  needed  to  reach  the  south- 
western corner  of  Asia  Minor. 

In  the  harbor  of  Myra,  the  Lycian  city,  there 
happened  a  favorable  chance.  One  of  the  large 
ships  which  carried  corn  (v.  38)  from  Egypt 
to  feed  the  vast  population  of  the  great  city  of 
Rome  had  put  in  there ;  and  the  centurion  seized 
the  opportunity,  and  transferred  his  whole 
company  of  prisoners  and  guards  to  this  vessel, 
which  was  sailing  direct  to  Puteoli  on  the  west 
coast  of  Italy,  the  harbor  of  Rome.  The 
course  of  this  ship  would  coincide  with  that  of 
the  other  as  far  as  Cnidus;  but  the  Egyptian 
corn-vessels  were  the  largest  and  best  equipped 
at  that  time.  This  vessel  was  for  some  reason 
belated,  and  had  not  accompanied  the  Egyptian 
fleet,  which  sailed  in  a  great  body  for  Puteoli 
earlier  in  the  year. 


Paul  Takes  Command  347 

The  winds  continued  adverse,  and  many 
days  elapsed  before  Cnidus,  a  promontory  on 
the  southwest  of  Asia  Minor,  was  reached. 
Hence  the  vessel  would  in  ordinary  course 
have  run  across  the  ^gean  Sea  north  of  Crete 
to  the  southern  point  of  Greece;  but  strong 
north  winds  were  blowing,  and  there  was  dan- 
ger that  the  ship  might  be  driven  on  the  north 
coast  of  Crete,  where  there  are  hardly  any  har- 
bors (except  Suda  Bay).  Accordingly,  they 
ran  for  shelter  under  the  south  coast  of 
Crete;  and  again  began  the  process  of  slowly 
making  their  way  westward  from  point  to 
point  as  far  as  Fair  Havens,  a  harbor  near  the 
middle  of  the  long  Cretan  southern  shore. 

Here  Paul  advised  that  they  should  lay  up 
for  the  winter,  as  the  middle  of  October  was 
now  on  them.  Julius  had  from  the  outset 
treated  Paul  with  great  courtesy,  because  the 
latter  was  a  person  of  distinction,  not  a  crim- 
inal ;  and  hence  the  rather  strange  situation  that 
a  prisoner  should  be  offering  advice  about  the 
conduct  of  a  Roman  officer  and  the  manage- 
ment of  the  ship.  Naturally  and  reasonably, 
the  officer  preferred  to  be  guided  by  the  captain 
and  the  sailing  master,  and  chose  on  their  ad- 


34S    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

vice  to  pass  the  winter  season  further  west  in 
the  harbor  called  Phoenix.  It  was  now  ac- 
cepted by  all  that  it  was  too  late  to  tempt  the 
open  sea,  and  that  the  winter  must  be  spent  in 
a  Cretan  port;  but  Phoenix  was  the  one  pre- 
ferred in  such  cases  (as  we  know  from  an  in- 
scription recording  the  detention  there  of 
another  vessel  of  the  same  class),  and  the  navi- 
gating authorities  thought  that  they  could 
reach  it  safely.  To  us  it  seems  strange  that 
the  decision  should  lie  with  the  soldier  and  not 
with  the  sailors ;  but  the  centurion  travelling  on 
the  Emperor's  service  commanded  even  the 
captain. 

Taking  advantage,  one  day,  of  a  gentle  south 
wind,  they  sailed  from  Fair  Havens;  close  to 
the  west  lay  a  prominent  cape  which  they  had 
to  pass ;  and  it  was  not  quite  certain  that  they 
could  round  it  with  the  wind  from  the  south. 
Paul  and  Luke  were  on  deck  watching,  and 
doubtless  all  the  sailors  and  prisoners  were  do- 
ing the  same.  It  was  an  anxious  voyage  at  that 
late  season ;  and  there  was  the  danger  that  the 
south  wind  might  cast  them  on  shore.  Luke 
says  that  they  were  ''close  in  shore"  :  the  record 
of  such  a  detail  reflects  the  anxiety  felt  at  this 


Paul  Takes  Command  349 

moment  by  one  who  knew  what  Paul's  advice 
had  been.  They  passed  the  cape,  and  then  they 
had  to  run  to  Phcenix  across  a  great  bay,  where 
they  were  much  further  from  shore. 

Then  the  southerly  breeze  suddenly  changed 
to  a  north-north-east  gale — a  change  which  is 
frequent  on  that  coast.  So  strong  was  the  wind 
that  the  ship  could  not  keep  her  course,  but  had 
to  run  before  it,  thus  getting  dangerously  far 
out  to  sea  in  this  stormy  season.  A  modern 
sailing  ship  prefers  the  open  sea;  but  ancient 
vessels  were  not  so  strongly  built,  and  were 
fitted  with  one  mast  and  one  huge  sail,  which 
strained  the  hull  so  severely  as  often  to  cause 
leaks  and  foundering.  The  little  boat,  which 
in  calm  weather  was  towed  behind  the  stern, 
was  now  hauled  on  board  with  difficulty.  An- 
other danger  threatened :  the  gale  was  blowing 
the  ship  direct  towards  the  African  quick- 
sands: they  therefore  lowered  the  yard,  and 
under  a  little  sail  with  prow  turned  up  towards 
the  wind  drifted  westward  for  fourteen  days. 
The  ship  was  leaking,  and  everything  that 
could  be  thrown  overboard  was  sacrificed  to 
keep  her  afloat. 

In  this  time  of  fear  Paul  cheered  the  ship's 


350   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

company  by  telling  of  the  vision  which  he  had, 
in  which  God  promised  that  all  on  board  should 
be  saved.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  Fair 
Havens  he  intimated  that  there  would  be  much 
loss  of  life.  Luke  does  not  hesitate  to  record 
on  that  occasion  a  forecast  that  proved  incor- 
rect :  even  Paul  could  be  mistaken,  and  only 
through  direct  revelation  did  he  learn  the  truth. 
Now  in  the  time  of  despair  and  despondency, 
Paul  alone  stands  out  to  encourage  the  crew 
and  to  rouse  all  on  board  to  exert  themselves 
and  save  themselves.  The  centurion  and  the 
captain  pass  out  of  notice,  and  Paul  issues 
orders. 


XLVI 

PAUL   THE    SAVIOUR    OF    HIS    COMPANIONS 

Ac/s  2  J  :  2^  to  28  :  10 

In  the  fourteenth  night,  as  they  drifted  over 
the  sea  Adria,  the  quick  sense  of  the  sailors 
made  them  aware  that  land  was  near;  and 
soundings  showed  first  a  depth  of  twenty  and 
soon  afterwards  of  fifteen  fathoms.  They 
therefore  anchored  by  the  stern,  to  avoid  run- 
ning on  shore  in  the  dark,  and  prayed  for  day. 
The  sailors  now  got  out  the  boat,  pretending  to 
be  about  to  lay  out  anchors  from  the  prow,  but 
really  intending  to  make  their  escape.  But 
Paul,  perceiving  their  intention,  warned  the 
centurion  and  the  soldiers,  who  cut  the  boat 
adrift.  At  daybreak,  when  the  time  for  exer- 
tion was  approaching  and  strength  was  needed, 
Paul  entreated  all  to  take  food,  and  set  the 
example  himself.  The  terms  in  which  his 
hurried  meal  is  described  are  evidently  chosen 
to  suggest  the  Eucharist :  ' 'when  they  had  taken 
bread,  he  gave  thanks  to  God  in  the  presence 

351 


352    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

of  all,  and  he  brake  it."  While  it  was  not  in 
the  strict  sense  a  celebration  of  the  sacrament, 
since  almost  the  whole  company  were  pagans, 
Luke  felt  that  there  was  power  and  blessing  in 
the  act.    Thus  all  were  encouraged  to  eat. 

The  total  number  of  persons  on  board  was 
276.  The  convoy  of  prisoners  must  have  been 
large,  and  the  crew  in  one  of  the  great  corn- 
ships  was  also  numerous :  this  shows  that  not 
the  entire  crew,  but  merely  one  lot  of  sailors, 
had  been  guilty  of  the  cowardly  action  of  at- 
tempting to  desert  the  ship. 

As  the  daylight  broke,  they  saw  before  them 
an  unknown  shore,  a  bay  with  a  sandy  beach  in 
one  part ;  and  they  resolved  to  run  on  the  beach, 
casting  off  the  anchors,  unfastening  the  two 
rudders  (which  had  been  lashed  up  during  the 
night),  and  hoisting  a  small  foresail  to  enable 
them  to  beach  the  ship  on  the  most  suitable 
spot.  This  spot,  as  they  came  closer,  was  seen 
to  be  a  bank  where  two  seas  met,  i.e.,  where  a 
narrow  spit  of  land  stretches  out  from  the 
main  island  towards  a  small  island,  which  pro- 
tects the  bay  on  the  west,  leaving  a  narrow 
channel  between  the  sea  on  one  side  and  the 
sea  on  the  other  side.     On  the  extremity  of- 


Saviour  of  His  Companions        353 

this  spit,  they  struck  a  muddy  bottom,  into 
which  the  prow  fixed  itself,  while  the  stern 
was  free  and  beaten  by  the  waves  until  it  be- 
gan to  break  up. 

From  this  place  all  got  safely  ashore  in  one 
way  or  another.  The  soldiers  who  were 
responsible  with  their  lives  if  the  prisoners 
escaped,  wished  to  kill  them  all;  but  the  cen- 
turion, desirous  of  saving  Paul,  permitted  them 
all  to  land.  Beyond  this  single  reference  Luke 
takes  no  notice  of  the  other  prisoners  during 
the  voyage. 

This  narrative  of  the  voyage  and  shipwreck 
has  been  almost  universally  recognized  as  the 
most  vivid  and  trustworthy  account  of  ancient 
seamanship  that  has  been  preserved,  one  that 
could  only  have  been  given  by  an  eye-witness 
and  a  faithful  and  accurate  observer.  We 
notice  that  the  direct  revelation  of  the  Divine 
will  to  Paul  plays  an  important  part  in  the 
action ;  and  there  cannot  be  any  doubt  that  the 
revelation  was  one  great  cause  why  Luke  was 
so  interested  in  the  story  as  to  relate  it  with 
this  fulness  of  detail.  In  virtue  of  this  revela- 
tion Paul  is  depicted  on  a  higher  level  than 
ordinary  men,  advising  more  skilfully  than  the 


354   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

sailors,  maintaining  hope  and  courage  when 
all  were  in  despair,  playing  the  part  of  a  true 
Roman  in  a  Roman  ship,  reverenced  even  by 
the  Roman  officer,  and  in  his  single  self  the 
saviour  of  all.  Here  is  a  picture  such  as  Luke 
loves  to  paint  of  the  triumph  of  spiritual  over 
material  strength.  Even  Roman  soldiers,  the 
best  in  the  world,  lost  courage,  and  were  saved 
by  the  courage  of  Paul. 

Further,  Luke  describes  the  voyage  at  such 
length  in  order  to  concentrate  attention  on  this 
part  of  Paul's  career.  Paul  was  now  about  to 
stand  his  trial,  and  the  result  of  his  trial  before 
the  supreme  court  of  the  Empire  was  that  he 
was  acquitted,  and  a  decisive  verdict  was  thus 
pronounced  in  favor  of  free  teaching  of  the 
Christian  Faith.  Subsequently,  after  the  ver- 
dict was  recalled  and  persecution  became  the 
lot  of  all  Christians,  Luke  recorded  the  facts 
of  the  earlier  period,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  had 
guided  the  Church  to  that  great  acquittal. 

The  company  now  safe  on  a  shore,  which 
(as  they  soon  learned)  was  the  island  of  Malta, 
were  kindly  treated  by  the  rude  natives,  who 
kindled  a  fire  for  them.  Paul,  always  helpful, 
gathered  an  armful  of  brush- wood  and  was 


Saviour  of  His  Companio7is        355 

throwing  it  on  the  hre,  when  a  snake  roused  by 
the  heat  came  out  of  the  sticks  and  fastened  on 
his  hand,  cHnging  there  until  Paul  shook  it  off 
into  the  fire.  The  action  shows  that  the  snake 
was  a  constrictor,  and  not  (as  Luke  calls  it) 
a  viper,  which  does  not  occur  in  Malta.  There 
is  found  in  the  island  a  species  of  constrictor, 
in  scientific  classification  either  Coronella  Aiis- 
triaca  or  Leopardinns  (observers  differ  as  to 
the  exact  species),  which  is  in  appearance  so 
like  a  viper  as  to  deceive  even  a  skilled  natural- 
ist unless  he  examines  it  closely ;  and  the  action 
of  this  species  would  be  exactly  what  Luke 
describes.  It  has  teeth,  and  bites,  but  the  teeth 
are  so  small  as  hardly  to  draw  blood. 

The  natives  thought  the  snake  was  venom- 
ous, and  expected  to  see  Paul  die  in  torture; 
such  belief  in  the  venomous  nature  of  really 
harmless  animals  is  extremely  common  among 
rude  peoples.  They  began  to  moralize  on  the 
justice  of  God,  which  had  singled  out  this  man 
among  the  prisoners ;  he  must  have  been  a  mur- 
derer who  deserved  to  die ;  the  other  prisoners 
could  not  be  so  wicked  as  he  was,  and  though 
he  had  escaped  the  sea  yet  Divine  justice  was 
now   punishing   his    crime.      But    when   time 


356   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

passed  and  no  harm  happened  to  the  supposed 
murderer,  they  changed  their  minds  and  said 
he  was  a  god.  Thus  Paul's  personaHty  domi- 
nated all  with  whom  he  was  brought  in  contact. 
The  spiritual  power  was  so  manifest  in  him 
that  even  the  rude  natives  recognized  it. 

The  leading  man  on  the  island,  one  Poplius, 
entertained  the  company  hospitably.  He  would 
of  course  make  some  distinction,  and  would 
pay  much  more  attention  to  the  Roman  officer 
and  the  captain  than  to  the  common  soldiers, 
and  more  to  the  soldiers  than  to  the  prisoners. 
But  Paul  was  treated  among  the  distinguished 
guests,  and  Luke  was  with  him.  Either  the 
courtesy  that  the  centurion  had  all  along 
shown  him,  or  the  reputation  he  had  acquired 
as  a  god,  procured  for  Paul  this  special  treat- 
ment. In  return  Paul  visited  the  father  of 
Poplius,  who  was  sick  of  a  fever,  and  after 
prayer  laid  his  hands  on  him  and  healed  him. 
Thereupon  other  invalids  came  from  all  parts 
of  the  island,  and  received  medical  attention: 
Luke  the  physician  took  part  in  the  treatment 
of  these  invalids,  and  shared  in  the  honors  that 
were  bestowed  on  Paul. 

We  understand  why  Paul  was  everywhere 


Saviour  of  His  Compmiions        357 

treated  with  such  attentive  courtesy,  but  why- 
was  Luke  admitted  to  participate  in  it  and  to 
be  everywhere  in  close  company  with  a  pris- 
oner? It  was  contrary  to  the  Roman  custom 
to  permit  any  friend  to  accompany  a  prisoner 
on  his  way  to  Rome.  In  one  famous  case  even 
a  wife  was  not  permitted  to  accompany  her 
husband,  a  Roman  noble,  when  he  was  carried 
a  prisoner  to  Rome,  and  she  had  to  hire  a  ves- 
sel to  follow  him.  The  only  way  in  which 
Luke  could  be  allowed  to  accompany  Paul  and 
to  be  always  close  to  him  was  that  he  was 
understood  to  be  a  slave  attending  on  his  master 
Paul.  The  relation  between  master  and  slave 
was  close,  familiar,  and  often  affectionate;  and 
it  was  natural  and  permissible  that  a  confiden- 
tial slave  should  attend  Paul  everywhere. 

We  notice  two  marks  of  accurate  detail. 
( I )  The  sea  between  Crete  and  Malta  is  called 
Adria,  i.e.,  Adriatic,  true  to  sailors'  language; 
and  the  name  Adriatic  was  even  extended  to  in- 
clude all  the  sea  as  far  as  Cyprus  on  the  east 
and  the  African  coast  on  the  south.  (2) 
Poplius  is  called  the  first  (man)  of  the  island. 
This  was  the  technical  name  for  the  head  man 
in  Malta,  as  we  know  from  inscriptions. 


XLVII 

A  LAST  APPEAL  TO  THE  JEWS 
Acts  28 :  1 1-3 1 

At  the  earliest  moment  possible,  after  spend- 
ing the  three  months  of  midwinter  in  Malta, 
the  convoy  of  prisoners  sailed  for  Rome.  The 
regular  season  for  navigation  had  not  yet  be- 
gun, but  even  in  winter  it  was  always  possible 
to  take  advantage  of  fair  wind  and  weather, 
and  to  sail  from  point  to  point  as  occasion  pre- 
sented itself.  Especially  was  this  the  case  with 
the  large  corn-vessels,  which  maintained  the 
service  between  Alexandria  and  Rome.  Such 
ships  were  used  to  long  voyages  across  the  open 
sea;  and  it  was  important  that  they  should 
reach  Puteoli,  the  harbor  for  Rome,  as  early  as 
possible. 

The  centurion  found  one  of  the  corn-ships 
which  had  been  driven  out  of  its  normal  course 
by  the  autumn  storms,  just  like  his  previous 
vessel,  but  had  escaped  shipwreck  and  spent  the 
winter  in  a  Maltese  harbor.  On  a  favorable 
358- 


A  Last  Appeal  to  the  Jews        359 

opportunity  this  ship  sailed  north  to  the  coast 
of  Sicily;  it  was  detained  three  days  in  Syra- 
cuse ;  it  reached  the  Straits  of  Messina  with  a 
wind  that  was  not  quite  favorable  and  required 
careful  navigation ;  it  was  detained  one  day  in 
the  harbor  of  Rhegium;  then  a  south  wind 
sprang  up,  blowing  fair  for  their  destination; 
thus  after  one  whole  day  and  part  of  the  next 
spent  in  the  long  run  across  the  open  sea  they 
reached  Puteoli,  the  great  harbor  of  Campania 
and  of  the  whole  Italian  west  coast,  where  all 
the  Alexandrian  ships  discharged  their  cargo 
of  corn  for  transport  to  Rome  by  land. 

The  centurion's  courtesy  allowed  Paul  seven 
days'  rest  in  Puteoli ;  the  voyage  on  an  ancient 
ship  was  rather  trying  at  the  best  of  times,  as 
none  of  the  comforts  which  modern  vessels 
offer  were  available  for  ordinary  passengers: 
people  slept  hard  and  fared  poorly,  and  once 
Tacitus  tells  that  a  regiment  of  Roman  soldiers, 
after  the  long  voyage  to  Egypt  and  back,  was 
disabled  for  a  time  from  active  service  even  on 
an  occasion  of  utmost  need. 

In  Puteoli,  the  harbor  for  the  East,  strangers 
from  Syria,  Palestine,  etc.,  were  numerous; 
and  here  the  new  relisfion  had  established  itself. 


360   Pictures  oj  the  Apostolic  Church 

Paul  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  the  brethren, 
until  the  journey  to  Rome  was  made.  He  was 
expected  there.  His  letter  to  the  Romans 
written  from  Corinth  three  years  ago  had  inti- 
mated his  intention  of  visiting  the  capital  of 
the  world,  and  many  of  the  numerous  friends 
with  whom  he  had  come  in  contact  during  his 
wandering  life  found  their  way  to  Rome  on 
business  or  duty.  Now,  considering  the  situa- 
tion, it  seems  beyond  doubt  that  a  report  of  the 
case  with  reasons  for  sending  on  the  appeal  to 
the  supreme  court,  must  have  been  dispatched 
by  Festus  to  Rome ;  the  report  would  be  sent  by 
Imperial  courier  along  the  land  route.  With  a 
fortunate  voyage  the  centurion  would  have 
reached  Rome  before  the  courier,  and  probably 
a  copy  of  the  report  was  sent  in  his  charge ;  but, 
as  it  happened,  the  courier  must  have  arrived 
long  before  the  centurion.  Further  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  brethren  in  Rome  were  in 
communication  with  those  in  the  East,  and 
heard  from  time  to  time  of  Paul's  fate;  the 
sympathetic  interest  between  the  scattered  con- 
gregations, which  was  caused  by  such  frequent 
communication,  was  the  main  support  of  unity, 
the  very  life-blood  of  the  Church. 


A  Last  Appeal  to  the  Jews        361 

Accordingly  when  a  messenger  from  Puteoli 
brought  private  news  to  the  brethren  in  Rome 
that  Paul  had  reached  Italy,  many  of  them 
started  to  welcome  him  on  the  way.  Some  of 
these  eager  friends  met  him  at  the  ''Market  of 
Appius,"  forty-three  miles  from  Rome,  some 
at  the  'Three  Shops,"  about  thirty-three  miles. 
The  sight  of  those  friendly  faces  cheered  Paul, 
and  he  thanked  God.  In  spite  of  alleviating 
circumstances  and  the  Divine  encouragement, 
the  strain  and  hardship  of  the  voyage  must 
have  told  on  his  delicate  frame,  and  physical 
weakness  caused  low  spirits.  We  see  in  his 
letters  written  from  Rome  plain  signs  how 
much  his  nature  longed  for  sympathetic 
friends ;  and  we  can  imagine  the  joy  which  he 
felt  when  his  Roman  friends,  some  known  to 
him  of  old,  some  new,  greeted  his  arrival  in 
these  two  wayside  towns. 

On  reaching  Rome,  Paul  rested  three  days — 
such  a  long  holiday  is  a  plain  proof  of  his 
fatigue  and  weakness — and  then  invited  the 
principal  Jews  to  the  house  which  he  had  hired, 
and  where  he  lived  under  guard  of  a  soldier. 
He  explained  his  case  to  them  in  as  polite  a 
way  as  was  consistent  with  truth:  he  was  de- 


362    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

livered  to  the  Romans  (he  avoids  saying  that 
the  Jews  did  this)  ;  the  Roman  authorities 
found  him  innocent  and  wished  to  release  him ; 
then  as  the  Jews  opposed  his  release,  he  had 
been  forced  to  appeal  to  Csesar,  but  not  in  any 
spirit  of  revenge  or  accusation  against  his 
nation.  And,  now,  having  come  to  Rome,  his 
first  act  was  to  entreat  his  own  people  to  speak 
wMth  him;  the  Promise  made  by  God  to  His 
people,  the  Hope  of  His  people,  drove  him  on 
into  imprisonment,  into  chains,  and  now  to  en- 
treat the  Jews  in  Rome. 

They  answered  that  they  knew  nothing  about 
the  case.  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  they 
spoke  the  whole  truth ;  but  they  were  evidently 
nonplussed  at  this  unexpected  situation,  and 
astounded  at  the  devotion  of  Paul  to  his  cause 
and  to  his  nation.  The  man  whom  the  Jews 
had  sought  to  kill  first  with  their  hands,  after- 
wards with  all  the  weapons  of  legal  procedure, 
felt  no  bitterness  against  his  persecutors:  they 
sought  to  kill  him :  he  only  sought  in  return  to 
save  them.  These  Roman  Jews  began  to  won- 
der whether  they  had  heard  all  the  truth. 
They  would  not  betray  their  own  people,  but 
for  the  present  would  merely  listen  to  what 


A  Last  Appeal  to  the  Jews        363 

Paul  had  to  say  for  himself.  They  denied  that 
they  had  received  any  letter  from  Judea  about 
him :  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  this  can  be  true : 
the  statement  is  probably  an  evasion,  to  which 
some  color  of  justification  could  be  given  in  a 
sidelong  fashion.  They  denied  that  any  of 
their  nation  had  reported  or  spoken  any  harm 
of  Paul:  this  is  even  harder  to  credit;  many  a 
pilgrim  must  have  returned  and  told  the  tale  in 
Rome ;  but  in  some  evasive  v^ay  also  they  could 
maintain  that  no  harm  had  been  told  of  Paul. 
They  acknowledged  that  they  had  heard  much 
about  the  new  sect  on  all  hands,  and  that  the 
accounts  were  all  hostile;  but  they  were  pre- 
pared to  hear  from  Paul  himself  what  he  had 
to  say  in  its  defence.  They  made  no  allusion  to 
the  existence  of  Christians  in  Rome;  yet  they 
must  have  been  well  aware  that  a  Roman  con- 
gregation existed,  and  that  people  of  their  na- 
tion belonged  to  it.  The  whole  brief  reply  is  eva- 
sive, false,  and  superficially  polite.  Luke  felt  this ; 
he  will  not  point  it  out,  any  more  than  he  would 
draw  attention  to  the  incorrectness  of  the  Trib- 
une's statement  in  23  :  2^].  He  states  the  facts 
simply  and  accurately,  and  expects  his  readers 
to  understand  the  situation  as  he  knew  it. 


364    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

On  an  appointed  day  many  Jews  came  to 
Paul's  house,  and  he  spent  the  whole  day  set- 
ting before  them  the  facts  about  Jesus,  prov- 
ing from  Moses  and  the  prophets  that  He  was 
the  Promised  Messiah.  The  result  was  the 
usual  one :  some  believed  and  some  disbelieved. 
The  audience  departed,  and  Paul,  quoting  the 
words  of  Isaiah,  recognized  his  failure  with  the 
Jews,  but  added  that  the  Gentiles  would  hear. 
The  second  book  of  Luke's  history  ends  with 
this  intimation  and  the  general  statement  that 
the  Apostle  continued  to  preach  in  his  own 
dwelling  freely  and  boldly  for  two  whole  years. 


XLVIII 

WEAKNESS      MADE     STRONG:      THE     AUTOBIOG- 
RAPHY  OF   A   MISSIONARY 

2  Corinthians  ii  :  j8  to  12  :  10 

In  his  second  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  pro- 
testing against  the  low  opinion  which  his  de- 
tractors expressed  of  him,  Paul  introduces  a 
short  sketch  of  his  own  career,  prefacing  it 
with  an  apology  for  the  appearance  of  egotism 
and  self-glorification,  which  autobiography 
necessarily  wears.  He  will  describe  his  own 
life  only  because  his  opponents  compel  him  to 
describe  his  services. 

His  detractors  compared  him  unfavorably 
with  certain  Jewish  teachers,  who  had  come 
from  Palestine  to  Corinth.  Paul  makes  the 
comparison  also,  and  gives  it  a  very  different 
color.  He  is  as  truly  a  Hebrew,  an  Israelite, 
an  heir  of  the  Promise,  as  they.  He  is  far 
more  truly  a  minister  of  Christ  than  they,  for 
he  had  suffered  imprisonment,  personal  chas- 

365 


366   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tisement  and  risk  of  death  in  a  way  with  which 
they  could  not  compare. 

He  had  been  five  times  beaten  by  his  Jewish 
countrymen.  These  beatings  are  not  mentioned 
by  Luke,  but  both  in  Palestine  and  elsewhere 
the  Jewish  communities  exercised  justice  ac- 
cording to  their  own  law  on  their  own  people 
within  certain  limits.  He  had  been  three  times 
beaten  with  the  rods  of  Roman  lictors.  This 
might  occur  either  in  a  Roman  Colony  or  in 
any  place  where  he  came  in  contact  with  a  Ro- 
man Governor :  in  Philippi  alone  is  such  beat- 
ing recorded,  but  the  persecution  and  expulsion 
which  he  endured  in  the  Colonies  of  Antioch 
and  Lystra  might  well  be  accompanied  with 
beating.  Three  times  he  had  suffered  ship- 
wreck, and  on  one  of  these  occasions  he  had 
been  in  the  water  for  a  day  and  a  night.  These 
are  not  mentioned  in  the  Acts  (this  letter  was 
written  before  the  period  described  in  20  :  4 
and  following).  In  his  long  missionary  jour- 
neys he  had  been  exposed  to  many  dangers, 
from  flooded  rivers,  from  robbers,  in  cities  and 
in  deserts  and  at  sea,  from  foreigners  and  Jews 
and  even,  worst  of  all,  from  pretended  Chris- 
tians.   He  had  suffered  from  fatigue  and  hard 


A  Missionary' s  Autobiography     367 

work,  from  want  of  sleep  and  food  and  drink 
and  clothes,  from  cold  and  abstinence. 

The  greatest  trial  of  all  was  the  ceaseless 
anxiety  about  his  young  churches,  which  al- 
ways pressed  heavy  on  his  heart.  He  sympa- 
thized with  all,  suffered  in  their  sufferings, 
denied  himself  the  freedom  of  life  to  which  he 
was  entitled  because  some  weak  and  overscru- 
pulous Christians  thought  that  such  freedom 
of  conduct  was  wrong,  and  was  heart-broken 
when  any  of  his  converts  failed  in  their  Chris- 
tian life.  In  his  weakness  he  had  been  saved 
by  the  power  of  God,  as  when  he  fled  from  the 
Governor  of  Damascus,  and  was  saved  not 
through  his  courage  but  in  the  refuge  of  a 
basket  hanging  from  a  wall. 

The  crowning  honor  of  his  career  lay  in  the 
direct  communion  with  God  which  had  been 
granted  to  him.  This  was  a  private  experi- 
ence, which  lay  between  him  and  God,  and 
which  in  ordinary  circumstances  he  would 
shrink  from  mentioning  to  men.  Even  to 
speak  of  such  favors  as  had  been  bestowed  on 
him  in  this  way  savors  of  boastfulness;  but 
he  speaks  now  under  compulsion.  In  a  vision 
fourteen  years  ago  he  had  been  transported 


368    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

into  heaven;  he  had  heard  what  he  could  not 
repeat;  he  did  not  himself  fully  comprehend 
what  had  happened,  whether  his  body  was 
thus  caught  up,  or  whether  the  spirit  was  set 
free  from  the  body  for  a  time  and  enabled  to 
commune  with  God.  Perhaps  it  was  not  the 
man,  but  the  spirit  alone,  that  had  seen  or 
heard  what  occurred  in  Paradise.  Of  such 
honor,  in  some  way  that  he  could  not  de- 
fine or  describe,  had  he  been  found  worthy. 

It  was  through  his  weakness  that  he  was 
made  strong  and  exalted  to  honor.  He  there- 
fore feels  justified  in  glorying  in  his  weakness, 
because  through  his  weakness  he  was  more 
fitted  to  exhibit  the  power  of  God,  which  acted 
through  him  and  made  use  of  him  for  great 
purposes,  far  beyond  his  own  poor  strength 
to  carry  into  effect. 

It  has  sometimes  been  thought  by  modern 
writers  that  Luke  lays  too  much  stress  on  the 
actions  and  the  sufferings  of  Paul;  but  this 
account  given  by  the  Apostle  himself  shows 
that  Luke  was  reticent,  and  passed  lightly  and 
silently  over  much  that  had  befallen  him.  We 
can  only  conjecture  as  to  the  occasions  when 
many  of  these  events  happened,  and  we  can- 


A  Missionary s  Autobiography     369 

not  fit  them  exactly  into  his  life.  As  to  the 
great  vision,  it  was  a  secret  of  Paul's  spiritual 
life,  mentioned  only  through  this  accidental 
cause.  Yet  he  dates  it  to  a  year,  a  thing  that 
he  very  rarely  does.  It  occurred  in  the  four- 
teenth year  before  he  was  writing.  The  Epistle 
was  written  in  the  year  56-57  (i.e.,  the  year 
beginning,  according  to  Corinthian  custom,  in 
autumn  56)  ;  and  the  fourteenth  year  before 
that  (according  to  the  ancient  way  of  count- 
ing) was  43-44.  In  that  year  Paul  had  gone 
to  Jerusalem  with  Barnabas,  and  had  a  vision 
in  the  temple,  in  which  he  was  ordered  to  go 
away  and  begin  his  mission  to  the  Gentiles. 
May  we  not  connect  the  account  given  to  the 
Corinthians  with  the  other  account  given  in 
the  speech  to  the  Jews,  and  believe  that  the 
order  was  accompanied  with  some  marvellous 
revelation  regarding  the  purpose  of  God,  about 
which  he  could  not  speak  to  men?  That  this 
was  so  suits  well  with  the  next  words.  Lest 
Paul  should  become  proud  through  the  con- 
sciousness of  this  great  revelation,  his  weak- 
ness was  brought  home  to  him  by  the  disease 
from  which  he  soon  began  to  suffer,  and  which 
kept  always  before  his  mind  the  knowledge 


370  Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

that  he  could  do  nothing  through  his  own 
strength.  This  disease,  the  stake  in  the  flesh, 
which  showed  the  power  of  Satan  over  him, 
began  to  afflict  him  not  long  after  he  left 
Jerusalem  on  that  occasion;  and,  as  seems 
probable,  it  seized  upon  him  in  Pamphylia. 
But  this  weakness  was  the  cause  of  the  mar- 
vellous success  which  was  granted  him  im- 
mediately afterwards  in  Galatia :  he  visited 
Galatia  on  account  of  it,  and  there  he  gained 
the  first  comprehensive  victory  of  his  mission- 
ary career.  God's  power  was  made  perfect  in 
Paul's  weakness. 

Such  seems  the  thought  in  this  part  of  the 
autobiography;  and  the  other  autobiography 
contained  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  ought 
to  be  carefully  compared  with  it.  Each 
throws  light  on  the  other  in  instructive  fash- 
ion; and  the  nature  of  Paul's  mind  is  set  be- 
fore us  by  the  two  accounts  written  at  different 
times  and  in  different  states  of  feeling.  But 
in  both  there  is  one  character :  nothing  seems 
of  value  to  Paul  in  his  past  history  except  his 
relation  to  God :  all  else  sinks  into  insignifi- 
cance in  his  retrospect.  There  is  nothing  real 
in  the   world  except   the  Divine;  all  else  is 


A  Missio7iary  s  Autobiography     371 

error  and  illusion.  The  greatest  things  are 
done  through  man's  weakness :  the  silence  of 
God  shouts  aloud  among  men  (to  adapt  the 
striking  language  of  Ignatius)  :  the  greatest 
of  saints  is  in  himself  (as  Paul  says  about 
himself  to  Timothy)  the  chief  of  sinners. 


XLIX 

THE   LAW    OF    SPIRITUAL    COMPENSATION 

2  Corint/najis  8 

In  his  second  letter  to  the  Corinthians  Paul 
pleads  for  a  liberal  contribution  to  the  fund 
which  he  was  anxious  that  all  his  young  Gen- 
tile Churches  should  send  to  relieve  the  poor 
Christians  in  Jerusalem.  In  Sections  XXXVI 
and  XXXVII  the  purpose  of  this  contribution, 
viz.,  to  foster  and  strengthen  the  feeling  of 
unity  between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  congre- 
gations, was  fully  described;  and  the  import- 
ance attached  to  it  by  Paul  was  explained.  In 
his  first  letter,  written  from  Ephesus  a  good 
deal  more  than  a  year  previously  (i6  :  if.), 
he  had  commended  this  contribution  to  their 
attention,  quoting  the  example  of  the  Gala- 
tian  Churches,  and  had  advised  them  to  lay 
by  every  Sunday  a  proportion  of  their  earn- 
ings, so  that  when  he  arrived  no  time  need 
be  spent  in  gathering  contributions,  and  there 
should  be  no  occasion  for  him  to  solicit  do- 
372 


Law  of  Spiritual  Compensation     373 

nations,  but  the  whole  matter  should  proceed 
from  their  voluntary  action  in  storing  up  their 
weekly  subscriptions.  Titus,  who  had  visited 
them  in  the  interval,  had  again  recommended 
the  subject  to  them.  Now  during  a.d.  56 
Paul  once  more,  in  view  of  Titus'  approaching 
second  visit,  urges  them  to  have  everything 
completed  and  ready. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  arguments 
by  which,  not  directly  but  only  indirectly,  he 
solicits  their  contributions.  He  desired  that 
the  collection  should  be  voluntary,  but  the  idea 
of  charitable  giving,  now  so  familiar  to  every 
Protestant  congregation,  was  then  entirely 
new ;  and  it  was  necessary  to  mention  the  sub- 
ject, and  make  the  reasons  plain  to  these  re- 
cently converted  pagans  of  Corinth. 

He  first  quotes  the  example  of  the  Mace- 
donian Churches,  Philippi  (which  was  always 
generous,  Phil.  4  :  16)  Thessalonica,  Beroea, 
and  possibly  other  more  recent  foundations 
(Rom.  15  :  19).  The  Macedonians,  who  were 
tried  and  proved  in  the  furnace  of  suffering 
for  their  faith,  showed  their  happiness  in  the 
Christian  life  amid  their  deep  poverty  by  giv- 
ing most  liberally.     Up  to  and  almost  beyond 


374    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

the  limits  of  their  power,  they  contributed 
voluntarily  and  unsolicited,  even  begging  to  be 
allov^ed  the  opportunity  of  showing  their  ap- 
preciation of  the  grace  and  of  joining  in  the 
work  of  helping  their  fellow-Christians.  They 
not  merely  gave  what  Paul  had  hoped  for, 
viz.,  money,  but  they  gave  themselves  in 
whole-hearted  devotion.  Titus  is  now  about 
to  visit  Corinth  again,  and  Paul  trusts  that 
he  will  carry  to  completion  this  gracious  act 
on  the  part  of  the  Corinthians,  as  successfully 
as  he  had  done  his  work  on  his  first  visit; 
and  hopes  that  they  will  show  themselves  as 
abundant  in  the  grace  of  charitable  giving  as 
they  were  richly  endowed  in  respect  of  faith, 
and  power  of  expressing  their  inspired 
thoughts,  and  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and 
eager  devotion,  and  finally  in  love  for  Paul. 

The  Apostle  does  not  order  them  to  make  a 
contribution;  he  wishes  that  their  action  and 
their  gifts  should  proceed  from  their  own  sense 
of  what  was  right,  and  from  the  generous  im- 
pulses of  their  own  heart.  He  only  mentions 
the  generosity  of  the  Macedonian  Churches  as 
a  test  by  which  the  sincerity  of  the  love  which 
the  Corinthians  felt  might  be  tried. 


Law  of  Spiritual  Compensation     375 

Then  follows  one  of  the  most  noteworthy 
sentences  in  the  whole  of  Paul's  writings.  In 
8  :  9  we  have  the  clearest  and  most  indubit- 
able declaration  of  the  pre-existence  of  Jes.us 
as  God  before  He  condescended  to  take  on 
Himself  human  form.       This  is  the  doctrine 
which  John  states  with  special  emphasis:  the 
Word   was   in  the  beginning  with   God:   the 
Word  was  God:  the  Word  became  flesh  and 
dwelt  among  men.     Paul  here  has  the  same 
thought  in  his  mind,  and  quotes  it  as  a  higher 
example  than  the   Macedonian  Churches   for 
Corinth  to  follow.     Jesus  voluntarily  gave  up 
the  riches  of  His  existence  and  Divine  power 
in  heaven,  and  took  on  Him  the  poverty  and 
humbleness  of  human  nature,   that  the  Cor- 
inthians through  His  poverty  in  life  on  earth 
and  His  death  might  attain  to  the  spiritual 
riches  of  salvation. 

A  third  argument,  addressed  to  the  reason- 
ing powers  of  the  Corinthians  (on  which  they 
rather  prided  themselves),  is  that  they  made  a 
beginning  of  this  collecting  in  the  preceding 
year,  and  did  so  willingly.  As  they  began,  it 
is  only  reasonable  that  they  complete  their  own 
undertaking.     It  is  irrational  to  begin  any  en- 


-^^^^6   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

terprise  and  stop  half-way.  If  they  are  now 
suffering  from  poverty  and  bad  trade  and  loss 
of  profits,  they  can,  of  course,  give  only  in  pro- 
portion to  their  means  at  the  moment.  Paul 
advises  all  men  to  give  only  according  to  what 
they  actually  possess,  and  not  as  lavishly  as 
if  they  were  wealthy.  It  is  not  according  to 
the  will  of  God,  or  the  dictates  of  reason  and 
justice,  to  indulge  in  the  false  generosity  of 
giving  away  what  one  does  not  really  possess : 
that  is  giving  at  the  expense  of  others:  true 
charity  consists  in  giving  what  one  possesses 
of  one's  own. 

Nor  ought  one  to  give  away  all  that  one 
possesses,  and  thus  reduce  oneself  to  penury 
and  become  an  object  of  charity  to  others.  To 
do  that  only  adds  to  the  burden  which  the  con- 
gregation has  to  support.  True  religious  feel- 
ing is  rational  and  sensible;  and  does  not 
squander  all  that  it  has.  It  thinks,  and 
reasons,  and  estimates  how  much  it  can  do, 
and  in  what  way  it  can  make  the  best  use  of 
its  resources  for  the  benefit  of  all.  At  the 
same  time  the  standard  of  giving  should  lie 
in  a  certain  balance  and  equality.  If  the  Cor- 
inthians now  give  of  their  abundance  to  the 


Law  of  Spiritical  Compensation     ^ill 

struggling  and  poverty-stricken  brethren  in 
Jerusalem,  the  time  may  come  when  the  latter 
will  have  the  opportunity  from  their  abund- 
ance of  helping  the  Corinthians  on  some  occa- 
sion when  they  are  afflicted.  Thus  the  Church 
of  God  lives  as  a  single  body,  all  of  whose 
parts  are  nourished  equally  and  equally 
healthy,  not  all  doing  the  same  work,  but  hav- 
ing all  their  separate  duties  and  functions,  each 
co-operating  with  the  other,  each  aiding  the 
other,  and  so  all  maintaining  a  harmonious  and 
equable  life  of  strenuous  activity. 

This  healthy  condition  of  the  body  and  of 
the  congregation  implies  that  no  part  and  no 
person  should  retain  a  superabundance;  each 
has  what  is  fair  and  suitable  to  maintain  effi- 
cient work.  The  case  of  the  healthy  Church  is 
similar  to  what  is  told  in  the  Old  Testament 
about  the  congregation  of  the  Hebrews  gather- 
ing manna  for  their  daily  food.  No  one 
gained  anything  by  gathering  a  superabundant 
store,  for  he  found  that  nothing  remained  over 
after  satisfying  the  wants  of  his  family  and 
himself;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  anyone 
found  it  out  of  his  power  to  gather  a  large 
amount,   what   he   did   collect   always   proved 


378    Pictures  of  the^  Apostolic  Church 

sufficient.  So  in  the  life  of  the  Christian  con- 
gregation he  that  gathers  a  superabundant 
store  and  tries  to  hoard  it,  will  find  that  he 
gains  nothing  from  it:  if  the  Church  is  in 
proper  health  each  part  supplies  the  other. 
Such  is  the  law  of  spiritual  compensation. 
Through  the  operation  of  this  law  great  char- 
itable organizations  have  been  built  by  volun- 
tary unsolicited  contributions;  such  are  for 
example  the  China  Inland  Mission  and  Quar- 
rier's  Homes  for  orphan  and  destitute  children, 
neither  of  which  has  ever  sent  out  any  request 
for  aid  or  for  subscriptions.  Each  has  been 
created  by  faith  and  prayer. 


PAUL  S    LAST    WILL    AND    TESTAMENT 
2  Timothy  4  :  i-iS 

A  pathetic  interest,  apart  from  their  intrin- 
sic vakie,  is  given  to  the  words  of  this  passage 
from  Paul's  last  letter,  by  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  written.  Paul's  second  trial 
had  begun  in  Rome  before  the  supreme  court; 
the  first  hearing  was  over,  and  the  final  stage 
was  postponed  for  a  time.  Although  the  first 
stage  had  been  successfully  passed,  yet  he  had 
no  expectation  that  the  final  result  would  be 
equally  favorable.  He  felt  that  the  time  had 
come  when  he  must  leave  his  work  on  earth; 
his  life  was  already  being  poured  out  as  an 
offering  to  God. 

Years  had  now  elapsed  since  the  time  which 
is  indicated  in  Section  XLVII.  In  the  interval 
Paul's  first  trial  had  been  successfully  sur- 
mounted. He  had  revisited  the  Hellenic 
Churches  round  the  shores  of  the  yEgean  Sea. 
He  had  written  i  Timothy  and  Titus.    He  had 

379 


380   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

been  arrested  by  Roman  command  and  brought 
to  the  capital  of  the  Empire  for  trial. 

At  the  same  time  the  final  stage  of  the  trial 
was  not  immediately  imminent.  It  had  been 
postponed;  and  the  probable  reason  for  this 
long  delay  is  that  witnesses  were  to  be  brought 
from  the  scenes  of  Paul's  work  in  the  East, 
or  investigations  made  there  as  to  its  character 
and  effect.  Thus  arises  the  double  tone  in 
this  chapter.  It  contains  instructions  to  Tim- 
othy as  to  his  conduct  and  work  after  his 
master's  death,  and  yet  it  urges  him  repeatedly 
to  come  to  see  Paul  in  Rome  (a  long  jour- 
ney which  might  take  from  one  to  three 
months  according  to  the  route),  and  to  bring 
with  him  books  and  comforts  for  use  in  the 
winter  season. 

The  interest  of  the  passage  for  us  lies 
mainly  in  the  former  point  of  view.  It  is  the 
last  message  of  a  man  who  felt  that  death  was 
approaching:  it  sums  up  his  own  work,  and 
provides  for  the  continuance  of  that  work 
when  he  is  gone.  Paul's  instructions,  and,  as 
we  might  almost  say,  his  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, for  the  charge  which  he  gives  to  Tim- 
othy is  expressed  so  solemnly  and  impressively 


Paul's  Last  Will  and  Testament  381 

that  it  may  fitly  be  so  called,  are  character- 
istic. 

Paul's  sole  concern  in  view  of  death  is  that 
the  work  be  carried  on.  He  foresees  what 
dangers  beset  the  Church  in  the  future,  be- 
cause those  dangers  have  already  begun.  Some 
are  weary  of  ''the  sound  and  health-giving 
doctrine,"  and  their  number  will  in  the  future 
be  much  increased.  The  teaching,  which  im- 
parts health  and  points  the  way  to  salvation,  is 
felt  to  be  trite,  uninteresting,  and  old-fash- 
ioned; and  people  are  full  of  curiosity  and  in- 
terest about  novelties  in  teaching:  their  ears 
itch  for  a  more  alluring  and  exciting  sort  of 
instruction:  they  want  teachers  who  will  ad- 
vise them  to  do  what  they  desire  to  do,  and 
who  will  tickle  their  fancy  with  quaint  and 
clever  though  false  philosophical  discourses. 
Such  teaching  only  diverts  from  the  truth. 

In  opposition  to  this  fatal  kind  of  teaching, 
Paul  urges  Timothy  to  preach  the  Divine  mes- 
sage, the  true  gospel,  as  he  must  be  judged 
hereafter  and  as  he  must  live  now  in  the  sight 
of  God.  He  should  press  on  the  work  at  all 
times,  not  putting  off  in  hope  of  a  more  favor- 
able  opportunity   hereafter,   but   acting   now. 


382    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

whether  the  moment  is  favorable  or  not:  he 
should  reprove  faults,  encourage  all  to  exert 
themselves,  be  patient  with  them,  but  always 
teach.  He  is  to  take  up  the  work  which  is  now 
slipping  from  Paul's  hands. 

In  verse  7  there  is  a  figure  of  speech  which 
is  not  military  (as  the  usual  translation  makes 
it),  but  connected  with  athletic  contests:  '*I 
have  competed  in  the  honorable  contest:  I 
have  run  the  race  to  the  finish :  I  have  observ^ed 
all  the  rules  of  this  race-course  of  faith."  In 
the  Christian  life  the  competitor  for  the  prize 
of  righteousness  must  feel  the  same  intense 
eagerness  and  show  the  same  concentration  of 
all  his  powers  on  the  great  effort,  as  are  nec- 
essary to  win  the  prize  in  a  great  race.  The 
prize  for  the  race  was  in  ancient  times  a  gar- 
land; and  this  garland  or  crown  is  ready  for 
Paul  as  the  consummation  of  his  intense  and 
strained  effort  in  life.  There  is,  however,  one 
marked  difference  between  the  garland  offered 
for  an  athletic  prize  and  the  garland  which 
God,  the  fair  umpire  and  judge,  will  award. 
Only  one  can  gain  the  prize  in  an  athletic  con- 
test, but  all  can  equally  gain  that  prize  of  a 
righteous  life,  if  they  are  animated  with  the 


PauV s  Last  Will  and  Testament  383 

true  love  for  the  appearing  of  Christ  and  the 
coming  of  His  kingdom  (verses  i  and  8). 

Now  appears  the  human  side  in  Paul's  na- 
ture. He  is  lonely,  except  for  the  companion- 
ship of  Luke.  Several  of  his  assistants  he  has 
sent  away  on  mission  work;  and  Demas,  a 
good  Christian  in  the  past,  has  been  unable  to 
endure  the  danger  and  trials  of  companionship 
with  Paul,  and  has  gone  back  to  Thessalonica 
to  enjoy  comfort  and  ease.  Paul  has  sent  Ty- 
chicus  to  Ephesus  to  relieve  Timothy,  and  set 
the  latter  free  to  come  with  Mark  to  Rome  be- 
fore the  winter  begins.  But  another  also  has 
gone  to  Ephesus,  an  enemy  and  a  danger,  Alex- 
ander, against  whom  Paul  warns  Timothy. 

In  the  first  stage  of  his  trial  no  one  sup- 
ported Paul  by  his  presence  and  countenance. 
In  reading  this  statement,  however,  we  must 
remember  that  only  Roman  citizens  could  ap- 
pear in  court  to  support  him;  there  is  no 
reason  to  think  that  Luke  was  a  Roman  citizen 
(except  as  a  freedman,  probably,  who  was  not 
privileged  to  appear  thus  in  court),  or  Tychi- 
cus;  but  in  the  Roman  Church  there  were 
some  citizens  who  shrank  from  the  trial,  and 
Paul  felt  their  desertion. 


384    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Yet  he  pleaded  his  own  cause,  with  Christ 
as  his  supporter;  and  the  Divine  power  had 
strengthened  him  so  that  the  cause  of  the  gos- 
pel was  set  forth  in  the  hearing  of  that  great 
court,  the  supreme  tribunal  of  the  Empire, 
and  so  much  effect  was  produced  that  the  im- 
minent condemnation  was  postponed.  The 
result  was,  indeed,  not  a  complete  acquittal; 
but  still  it  was  a  great  triumph  that  in  such  a 
time  of  persecution,^  when  trial  generally  re- 
sulted in  instant  condemnation,  further  inves- 
tigation was  found  necessary,  and  a  long 
])ostponement  was  pronounced  for  the  trial. 
Paul  rejoiced  in  this  result,  not  because  he  was 
afraid  of  death,  but  because  it  implied  greater 
freedom  for  the  Christians  and  fuller  oppor- 
tunity to  preach. 

We  know  what  was  the  usual  method  at  that 
time  of  executing  criminals  who  were  con- 
demned on  such  charges  as  were  brought 
against  the  Christians.  They  were  frequently 
exposed  to  be  torn  and  devoured  by  wild  beasts 
in  the  amphitheatre,  or  their  death  was  other- 
wise  contrived   to   be   an   amusement   to   the 

^This  was  the  persecution  of  Nero,  which  began  in 
A.  D.  64. 


Paul's  Last  Will  and  Testament  385 

brutal  populace  of  Rome;  and  the  expression 
which  Paul  uses,  "I  was  delivered  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  lion,"  was  probably  suggested 
by  this,  though  he  himself  as  a  Roman  citizen 
was  privileged  to  have  a  more  honorable  form 
of  death. 


LI 

THE  EPITAPH  OF  PAUL 

/  have  fought  the  good  fight:  I  have  finished 
the  course:  I  have  kept  the  faith. — 2  Timothy 

4:7- 

These   words   are   the   brief   review   which 

Paul,  in  the  anticipation  of  threatening  death, 
makes  of  his  Hfe  and  his  work.  They  sum  up* 
his  whole  character. 

As  was  stated  in  Section  L  they  refer,  not  to 
warfare,  but  to  competition  in  athletic  sports. 
The  Hellenic  peoples,  among  whom  his  Gentile 
Churches  were  founded,  were  very  fond  of 
such  sports,  which  formed  a  recognized  part 
of  the  education  of  every  boy,  and  were  care- 
fully regulated  under  trained  medical  guid- 
ance. Victory  in  the  great  international  com- 
petitions was  regarded  as  the  highest  of  dis- 
tinctions, not  merely  for  the  successful  athlete, 
but  for  the  city  to  which  he  belonged;  and  in 
that  keenly  contested  arena  victory  could  be 
gained  only  by  the  most  intense  and  concen- 
386 


The  Epitaph  of  Paul  387 

trated  effort,  following  on  a  long  preliminary 
period  of  training  according  to  very  severe 
rules.  The  rules  of  the  course,  and  of  the  prep- 
aration for  it,  were  rigidly  enforced  by  the 
judges  who  regulated  the  competition  and  de- 
cided the  prize.  Competitors  who  had  not 
strictly  complied  with  all  the  rules  were  dis- 
qualified remorselessly.  To  win  the  prize,  not 
merely  must  one  be  first :  one  must  attain  that 
position  in  accordance  with  stern  laws  and 
regulations. 

In  a  series  of  metaphors  drawn  from  this 
side  of  Hellenic  life,  Paul  finds  the  descrip- 
tion which  will  best  explain  to  his  readers 
(not  merely  Timothy  but  all  the  Ephesian 
Church)  the  intensity  and  the  long  course  of 
concentrated  application  which  characterized 
his  life  and  the  life  of  every  Christian :  'T  have 
competed  in  the  honorable  contest :  I  have  run 
the  race  to  the  winning  post :  I  have  observed 
the  rules  which  regulate  the  race-course  of 
faith."  Paul  was  the  typical  man,  the  typical 
human  Christian.  Our  life,  just  like  his,  must 
be  one  long  struggle  onwards  towards  a  goal. 
We  can  maintain  the  struggle  only  by  strict 
discipline,  and  the  observing  of  all  the  rules, 


388    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

as  he  did.  We  reach  the  goal  and  win  the 
prize  only  in  the  hour  of  death,  as  he  reached 
it.  The  struggle  ends  only  with  our  life:  it 
must  be  maintained  to  the  end.  The  prize  is 
not  in  this  life  or  of  this  life;  but  it  can  be 
won  by  all  who  persevere  to  the  last. 

Such  is  the  wdiole  life  of  Paul.  He  was  an 
eager  competitor  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end.  Before  he  learned  what  Christ  was,  when 
he  hated  Him  and  persecuted  all  His  followers, 
he  was  already  struggling  on  in  his  ignorance 
and  blindness  towards  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  truth.  He  was  even  then  a  leader  of 
men,  a  preacher,  a  missionary,  eagerly  bent  on 
bringing  others  to  the  truth  as  he  believed  it. 
On  the  road  to  Damascus,  near  that  city,  he 
saw  with  his  own  eyes  the  Jesus  still  living 
whom  he  had  believed  to  be  a  dead  impostor. 
The  direction  of  his  efforts  was  changed  from 
that  time  onwards.  He  knew  now  where  the 
truth  lay ;  and  the  same  devouring  enthusiasm, 
the  same  concentrated  energy,  which  he  had 
before  ignorantly  applied  in  a  misdirected 
course,  he  now  applied  to  the  spreading  of  his 
better  knowledge.  He  had  to  face  a  constant 
succession  of  difficulties,  as  we  must  in  our 


The  Epitaph  of  Paul  389 

life.  He  was  always  misunderstood  and  sus- 
pected by  many,  as  the  strenuous  reformer  will 
always  be.  But  he  always  found  devoted  and 
zealous  friends,  as  the  true  and  honest  seeker 
after  knowledge  always  finds  them,  friends 
ready  to  guarantee  his  honesty  with  their  credit 
and  their  life,  ready  to  believe  in  him  even 
where  appearances  were  against  him,  and  to 
help  him  in  all  his  difficulties.  All  men  who 
work  unselfishly  for  the  good  of  the  world,  all 
who  try  to  achieve  something  noble  and  gen- 
erous in  their  life,  all  who  live  for  a  high  ideal, 
will  turn  with  growing  interest  and  admiration 
to  the  career  of  Paul,  and  will  find  mirrored  in 
it  the  best  side  of  their  own  nature. 

When  he  first  came  to  Jerusalem  after  his 
conversion,  the  disciples  were  afraid  of  him, 
for  they  could  not  believe  in  his  truth.  Barna- 
bas helped  him,  became  his  champion,  and 
guaranteed  his  good  faith.  Then  he  disputed 
against  the  Hellenist  Jews,  his  own  former 
friends  (since  he,  too,  was  a  Hellenist  Jew)  ; 
but  they  went  about  to  slay  him.  He  had  to 
flee  from  Jerusalem.  He  lived  many  years  a 
life  that  was  undistinguished,  while  he  was 
learning  the  Christian  missionary's  life  by  liv- 


390   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

ing  it,  the  only  way  in  which  it  can  be  learned. 
This  was  his  apprenticeship,  in  which  there 
seems  to  have  been  little  apparent  external 
success,  for  Luke  records  nothing.  At  last 
Barnabas  brought  him  to  Antioch,  and  there 
he  found  friends  and  associates,  but  still  he 
ranked  last  among  the  Antiochian  leaders. 
He  was  then  sent  forth  by  the  Spirit  along 
with  Barnabas  to  a  new  work  in  the  West ;  and 
in  the  prosecution  of  this  work  he  had  to  part 
from  that  dear  and  tried  friend,  who  was  not 
prepared  to  do  all  that  Paul  believed  necessary 
for  success  in  their  joint  career.  He  had  to 
choose  between  his  work  and  companionship 
with  his  best  friend.  He  chose  his  work;  but 
the  cost  was  great. 

This  is  the  sorest  trial  of  human  life.  It  is 
not  only  our  unsympathetic  opponents  who 
misunderstand  us.  Sometimes  even  our 
friends  differ  from  us,  disagree  with  our 
views,  suspect  and  disapprove  of  our  aims  and 
course  of  life,  and  part  from  us.  We  have  to 
choose  between  friendship  and  truth,  the  hard- 
est choice  in  life.  Are  we  quite  sure  that  we 
are  right  in  our  view?  May  we  not  have  mis- 
taken our  course?     Shall  we  be  justified  in 


The  Epitaph  of  Paul  391 

breaking  the  bond  of  true  companionship? 
With  that  question  come  doubt  and  anxiety, 
perplexity  and  ahiiost  despair. 

As  we  see  that  Paul's  life  mirrors  our  trials 
and  struggles,  so  also  we  may  hope  to  gain 
some  of  his  consolations  and  rewards.  He 
attained  to  many  revelations  of  the  nature  and 
will  of  God.  In  those  revelations  he  found 
the  highest  glory  of  his  earthly  life.  They 
were  a  sacred  possession  of  which  he  could 
not  speak  much,  but  which  he  kept  deep  hidden 
in  his  heart.  We  are  not  denied  such  revela- 
tions. We,  too,  may  have  moments  of  insight 
and  inspiration,  in  which  we  attain  to  direct 
communion  with  the  Divine  Nature,  and  to 
sympathy  with  the  purpose  and  will  of  God — 
moments  in  which  the  Truth  seems  to  unveil 
itself  to  our  gaze.  Those  moments  are  brief 
and  interrupted.  We  cannot  remain  long  on 
that  high  level;  but  we  see  that  to  Paul  also 
those  moments  of  inspiration  were  discontinu- 
ous. The  prize,  the  crown  of  life,  came  to  him 
only  with  death. 

While  we  see  in  Paul  the  man  who  strug- 
gled through  error  towards  truth,  we  recognize 
in  him  also  the  highest  type   of  man.     We 


392    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

never  understand  him  until  we  begin  to  judge 
his  conduct  on  the  highest  plane  of  human 
action.  If  we  look  on  him  from  this  point  of 
view,  then  the  longer  we  study  him  the  better 
we  appreciate  the  loftiness  of  his  motives,  his 
unselfishness,  his  noble  and  generous  spirit  in 
judging  the  world,  his  frankness  in  condemn- 
ing all  wrongdoing  and  wrong  thinking,  his 
courtesy  and  delicate  consideration  for  the 
feelings  of  others,  his  patience  in  pleading 
with  them. 


LII 


REVIEW  OF  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  LOCAL  CIRCUM- 
STANCES ON  THE  LIFE  OF  PAUL 

Tarsus  lay  in  the  lowlands  of  Cilicia,  less 
than  eighty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
from  which  it  was  distant  about  ten  miles 
down  the  River  Cydnus.  The  Cydnus  has  now 
changed  its  course  and  flows  east  of,  instead 
of  through,  the  city;  and  only  small  boats  can 
cross  the  bar  and  enter  the  river.  Careful 
engineering  operations  were  needed  to  keep 
the  channel  clear  and  deep,  so  that  ships  could 
sail  up  into  the  heart  of  Tarsus ;  and  a  lagoon, 
through  which  the  river  flowed  before  reach- 
ing the  sea,  was  embanked  and  made  useful 
as  the  principal  harbor  and  arsenal  of  the  city. 
Moreover,  a  road  was  cut  and  built  to  the 
north  over  the  Taurus  Mountains,  and  the 
Cilician  Gates  were  opened  to  trade.  Thus 
through  the  energy,  forethought  and  skill  of 
its  inhabitants.  Tarsus  was  placed  at  the  point 
where  sea-going  ships  could  best  profit  by  the 

393 


394    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

trade  which  poured  down  from  central  Asia 
Minor  towards  the  nearest  and  easiest  outlet. 
This  advantage,  we  must  note,  was  not  the 
free  gift  of  nature,  but  was  gained  by  the 
application  of  knowledge  and  hard  work.  The 
country  has  now  relapsed  into  its  natural  con- 
dition, and  is  dreary,  repellent,  and  in  large 
part  marshy;  but,  by  draining  and  by  navi- 
gation works  on  the  river,  a  great  extent  of 
fertile  soil  was  formerly  made  available  for 
agriculture.  The  ancient  accounts  tell  with 
what  pride  the  Tarsians  regarded  their  river. 
It  was  not  beautiful,  and  strangers  w^ho  sailed 
up  to  Tarsus  could  only  wonder  at  the  Tar- 
sian  feeling;  but  the  people  loved  it  because  it 
was,  so  to  say,  their  own  offspring,  created  by 
their  skill  and  energy.  They  had  transformed 
a  dreary  stretch  of  half-inundated  lands, 
fringed  by  sand-heaps  on  the  shore,  into  a  rich 
plain,  holding  in  its  bosom  a  great  city  through 
which  ran  a  river  able  to  float  the  merchandise 
of  many  lands — a  city  with  its  feet  resting  on 
a  great  inland  harbor  and  its  head  reaching  up 
to  the  hills.  The  pride  of  the  Tarsians  in  their 
city,  noted  by  ancient  travellers,  was  deep- 
rooted  in  their  nature;  and  it  appears  in  Paul, 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances    395 

at  one  of  the  most  dangerous  moments  of 
his  Hfe,  when,  bruised,  beaten,  and  at  the 
point  of  death,  he  was  barely  rescued  from  a 
fanatical  Jewish  mob  by  Roman  soldiers.  At 
that  moment,  when  his  life  was  dependent  on 
the  discipline  of  the  soldiers  and  on  the  good- 
will of  their  commander,  we  cannot  suppose 
that  in  answering  the  hurried  questions  put  to 
him  he  would  indulge  in  mere  picturesque  de- 
tails. He  said,  '1  am  a  Jew,  a  Tarsian  of  Cili- 
cia,  citizen  of  no  mean  city."  In  that  scene 
Paul  showed  extraordinary  courage  and  cool- 
ness, and  seized  the  first  possible  opportunity 
to  address  the  mob  which  a  few  minutes  be- 
fore had  been  tearing  him  in  pieces;  but  the 
fact  that  he  called  himself,  not  a  Roman  (as 
he  did  immediately  after,  using  the  title  which 
was  most  honorable  and  most  likely  to  move 
the  Tribune),  but  a  Tarsian,  and  praised  the 
importance  of  Tarsus,  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
explained  except  because  he  shared  in  the  feel- 
ings of  the  Tarsians  among  whom  he  had  been 
born  and  educated.  In  modern  times  a  Jew 
may  be  a  patriotic  Frenchman  or  a  good 
Englishman,  according  to  his  birth,  and  yet 
remain  a  convinced  and  loyal  Jew;  and  there 


396   Pic  litres  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

is  no  reason,  except  modern  prejudice,  to  think 
it  anything  but  natural  that  Paul  should  en- 
tertain a  deep  and  tender  feeling  for  the  home 
of  his  childhood,  in  which  his  family  had  held 
an  honorable  place  for  generations. 

To  his  Tarsian  education,  also,  Paul  owed 
it  that  he  could  move  in  Hellenic  society  at 
his  ease,  comprehending  and  adapting  himself 
to  it  as  one  to  the  manner  born,  knowing  in- 
stinctively what  Hellenes  thought  and  felt  and 
desired.  He  was  never  quite  a  foreigner 
among  Hellenes.  This  was  an  immense  advan- 
tage in  the  Hellenic  world,  and  fitted  him  to 
be  the  Apostle  of  the  cities  round  the  ^gean 
Sea.  Moreover  he  was  born  a  Roman  citizen, 
with  all  the  privileges  of  the  race  that  gov- 
erned the  world.  Several  times,  in  occasions 
of  need,  this  privilege  (which  belonged  only  to 
a  few  distinguished  Tarsian  families)  helped 
him  to  triumph  over  apparently  insuperable 
difficulties.  It  gave  him  the  right  to  appeal  to 
the  Emperor,  and  thus  to  ''bear  witness  also  at 
Rome"  and  to  "stand  before  Caesar" ;  and  it 
qualified  him  to  look  forward  to  preaching  the 
gospel  even  in  Spain,  where  he  must  speak  in 
Latin,  and  to  aspire  to  conquer  not  merely  the 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances   397 

Hellenic  East,  but  also  the  Latin  West.  Thus, 
even  before  his  birth,  he  had  been  fitted  by  the 
circumstances  of  his  family  and  ancestry  to  be 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  (Gal.  i  :  15),  to 
interpret  to  the  outer  world  the  religion  that 
had  been  nursed  among  the  Jews.  There  is 
no  good  missionary  who  does  not  often  feel 
how  hard  it  is  to  comprehend  the  foreign  peo- 
ple whom  he  addresses,  and  what  difficulty  is 
thrown  in  his  path  by  the  fact  that  he  is  a 
stranger  to  the  heart  and  thoughts  and  hopes 
of  his  hearers.  Paul  was  free  from  this  diffi- 
culty; and  his  freedom  from  it  is  conspicuous 
in  many  scenes  of  his  life. 

It  was  in  Tarsus,  too,  that  he  had  learned  to 
understand  the  popular  paganism,  to  know 
that  there  were  certain  fundamental  ideas  of 
good  (Rom.  2  :  14  f.)  amid  the  vast  edifice 
of  abomination  that  overspread  and  concealed 
the  good,  and  to  hate  with  the  whole  passion- 
ate fervor  of  his  mind  the  idolatry,  the  false 
conception  of  God's  nature,  which  had  de- 
stroyed the  possibility  of  improvement  and 
nearer  approach  to  God  in  the  votaries  of  the 
Anatolian  rites. 

In  Tarsus,   again,  more   fully  than  in  any 


398    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

other  city,  there  was  a  synthesis  between 
Grecian  and  Oriental  manners  and  ideas.  The 
beginnings  had  been  worked  out  of  a  peace- 
able amalgamation  of  European  and  Asiatic 
in  a  system  that  was  neither  purely  Greek  nor 
purely  Oriental.  Throughout  all  history,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  the  contact  and  inter- 
course between  the  active  peoples  of  the  West- 
ern and  the  more  receptive  Eastern  races  has 
stimulated  the  most  fruitful  developments  of 
life;  but  the  contact  has  generally  taken  the 
form  of  war  and  hatred.  In  Tarsus,  better 
than  in  any  other  ancient  city,  the  problem  of 
co-operation  had  been  solved  in  a  peaceful 
association  of  the  two  elements. 

Among  many  signs  of  the  influence  ex- 
erted on  Paul  by  his  Tarsian  upbringing,  one 
more  may  be  touched  here.  It  is  a  fact  of 
human  nature  that  a  man  can  only  with  diffi- 
culty emancipate  himself  from  early  prepos- 
sessions regarding  the  conduct  of  women  in 
society.  Paul  was  accustomed  in  Tarsus  to 
the  complete  veiling  of  women,  who  there 
walked  the  streets  wholly  covered  up  from 
view,  like  Turkish  ladies  in  more  recent 
times.      In    his    attitude    toward    women    he 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances   399 

moves  between  two  extremes.  On  the  one 
hand,  he  knew  that  in  the  fully  developed 
Christian  Church,  as  it  shall  be,  there  is  no 
distinction  of  nationality  or  rank  or  sex,  but 
that  all  are  placed  on  an  equality  and  made 
one  in  Christ.  But  on  the  other  hand  he  knew 
only  too  well  that  his  congregations  stood  in 
grave  need  of  improvement,  and  had  not  yet 
risen  far  above  their  pagan  standard  of  life. 
He  felt  that  the  reputation  of  the  Church  in 
pagan  society,  as  well  as  its  future  develop- 
ment, depended  largely  on  the  conduct  of  its 
women.  He  was  always  anxious  about  them; 
he  was  firmly  persuaded  that  it  was  unwise 
for  Christian  women  to  go  far  outside  of  cur- 
rent views  as  to  propriety ;  and  it  seems  beyond 
doubt  that  his  early  prepossessions  influenced 
in  some  degree  the  advice  which  he  gave,  and 
the  rules  that  he  prescribed,  about  the  conduct 
and  the  veiHng  of  women.  All  must  feel  that 
he  was  right  in  saying  that  the  rule  ought  to  be 
a  mean  and  balance  between  the  Christian 
freedom  of  the  future  and  the  conventions  of 
present  society;  but  we  must  remember  that 
he  regarded  the  present  rule  as  different  from 
the  truth  of  the  future. 


400   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

In  his  early  youth  Paul  chose  his  life.  There 
was  open  to  him  the  career  of  a  citizen  in  the 
Empire,  such  as  many  good  Jews  (as  well  as 
bad  ones)  had  followed;  but  he  chose  the  re- 
ligious life  after  the  type  of  the  old  prophets. 
He  would  not  remain  among  his  Tarsian 
countrymen,  serve  the  state,  marry,  and  build 
up  a  family:  he  would  follow  the  Divine  life, 
and  he  went  to  Jerusalem  as  its  proper  en- 
vironment, to  study  the  Law  at  the  feet  of  its 
greatest  living  teacher.  For  many  years  he 
lived  in  Jerusalem;  and  its  influence  on  him 
was  profound.  But  this  influence  cannot  here 
be  touched,  because  to  touch  it  is  to  describe 
the  whole  basis  of  his  character.  Paul  was 
fundamentally  the  Hebrew.  All  other  influ- 
ences were  modifying  and  secondary;  they 
enriched  and  varied  and  sweetened  the  He- 
brew type,  and  hence  they  can  be  briefly 
described.  But  Jerusalem,  first  as  dreamed  of 
in  Tarsus,  afterwards  as  his  environment  for 
many  years,  made  the  fabric  of  Paul's  mind. 

Damascus  and  Arabia  touched  him ;  but  the 
next  city  which  strongly  influenced  him  was 
Syrian  Antioch.  There,  however,  it  was  ap- 
parently not  the  city  as  a  whole,  but  the  Chris-/ 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances   401 

tian  congregation  and  its  leaders,  which 
moulded  him.  Contact  with  the  gracious, 
sympathetic,  and  generous  nature  of  Barnabas 
was  an  education  in  itself.  The  other  leaders 
were  to  him  revered  figures,  to  whose  example 
he  must  mould  his  conduct.  He  was  still 
learning :  the  period  for  command  had  not  yet 
begun.  In  Antioch  the  Church  grew  among 
the  Gentiles,  but  did  not  directly  go  to  them: 
it  welcomed  them  through  the  door  of  the 
synagogue.  Corresponding  to  this  isolation  of 
the  Church  from  the  city  is  the  faintness  of 
the  impression  which  Antioch  makes  on  the 
pages  of  Luke.  The  congregation  and  its 
leaders,  a  harmonious  and  impressive  body, 
stand  out  before  us ;  but  no  impression  of  the 
city  is  conveyed,  except  that  it  was  at  some 
distance  from  the  sea,  and  that  Paul  went 
down  to  Seleucia  to  take  ship  for  Cyprus. 

Paphos  was  the  seat  of  a  Roman  Governor, 
whose  court  furnished  a  memorable  scene,  a 
real  turning-point  in  Paul's  life.  Here  first  he 
stepped  forward  as  the  leader,  and  spoke  di- 
rectly to  a  Gentile  as  such.  The  decisive  step 
was  begun,  and  could  never  be  retraced ;  but  its 
effects  were  not  apparent  in  Paphos  itself. 


402    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Perga,  the  capital  of  Pamphylia,  appears 
only  in  passing,  once  and  again.  No  work  was 
done  here  on  the  first  visit,  but  the  Divine 
power  directed  Paul,  through  the  weakness 
and  bodily  infirmity  which  affected  him,  to 
the  real  beginning  of  his  proper  work.  He 
went  across  Taurus,  a  long  and  dangerous 
journey,  full  of  perils  of  rivers  and  robbers,  to 
Pisidian  Antioch;  and  there  achieved  instan- 
taneous and  marvellous  success.  Within 
twelve  days  almost  the  whole  city  was  listen- 
ing to  him,  and  he  had  turned  from  the  Jews 
to  the  Gentiles.  Antioch  was  a  Roman  Col- 
ony, the  governing  city  of  the  southern  half 
of  the  great  province  Galatia,  military  centre 
for  defence  against  the  still  dangerous  tribes 
of  the  Taurus  Mountains,  lying  on  the  skirts 
of  the  Sultan  Mountain,  3500  feet  above  sea 
level.  Its  people  shared  in  the  pride  of  Roman 
authority,  although  the  mass  of  them  had  not 
the  full  privilege  of  Roman  citizens.  Paul 
did  not  appear  among  them  as  the  aristocratic 
Roman,  but  as  a  poor,  weak  stranger,  suffer- 
ing from  an  illness  which  tried  their  hearts, 
because  it  was  believed  to  be  a  punishment  in- 
flicted by  Divine  power  on  persons  accursed. 


Influe7ice  of  Local  Circumstances   403 

Yet  they  did  not  despise  him  from  the  height 
of  their  colonial  dignity;  but  received  him 
forthwith  as  the  messenger  of  God.  Not  the 
whole  city,  however,  welcomed  Paul;  a  part 
held  aloof;  and  this  part  was  doubtless  the 
Roman  aristocracy,  more  dignified,  more  diffi- 
cult to  move,  and  not  reached  by  the  same 
address  as  the  older  population,  for  the  latter 
spoke  Greek,  in  which  language  Paul  appealed 
to  them,  while  the  local  aristocracy  spoke  Latin 
and  were  for  the  most  part  poorly  acquainted 
with  Greek. 

In  Antioch  it  was  that  Paul  turned  entirely 
away  from  the  Jews  to  the  Gentiles;  the  step 
taken  at  Paphos  was  here  carried  to  its  proper 
completion.  It  was  at  Antioch,  too,  that  the 
intermediate  step  was  taken.  On  the  first  Sab- 
bath after  his  arrival  Paul  preached  to  the 
mixed  audience,  and  addressed  them  all  as 
''Brethren"  without  distinction  of  race — the 
first  occasion  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
when  that  was  done  frankly  and  without  apol- 
ogy. Luke  marks  the  importance  of  the  step 
by  giving  a  full  resume  of  the  sermon.  The 
step  was  not  made  from  any  preconceived 
design;    incidentally,    little    by    little,    in    the 


404   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

course  of  the  sermon,  Paul  became  conscious 
that  it  was  being  made  as  the  Divine  impulse 
drove  him  on.  Addressing  this  new  audience, 
he  became  sensitive  as  a  true  orator  to  some- 
thing liitherto  unknown  to  him  in  the  character 
of  his  audience;  and  like  an  orator  he  adapted 
himself  to  it,  "becoming  all  things  to  all  men." 
He  was  aware  of  a  certain  sympathetic  move- 
ment of  spirit  in  the  large  Gentile  part  of  his 
audience :  this  sympathy  was  the  force  that 
brought  almost  the  whole  city  together  a  week 
later :  it  w^as  already  mani  f est  on  the  first  Sab- 
bath :  it  sprang  from  a  certain  affinity  of  char- 
acter between  the  nature  of  the  Anatolian 
people  on  the  plateau  and  the  Jews^;  Paul  felt 
it  first  in  Antioch  and  afterward  in  other 
Galatian  cities.  It  was  this  same  quality  that 
a  few  years  later  inclined  the  Galatian 
Churches  to  adopt  the  whole  Law  and  ritual 
of  Judaism,  and  drew  upon  them  the  strong 
condemnation  expressed  in  the  letter  to  the 
Galatians. 

This  spirit  in  the  pre-Roman  population, 
the  mass  of  the  city,  became  the  occasion  of 
Paul's  marked  forward  movement  on  the  first 
Sabbath  in  Antioch.     On  the  other  hand,  the 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances   405 

Roman  aristocracy  of  the  colony,  sons  of 
Western  immigrants,  had  none  of  that  affinity 
in  spirit  with  the  East,  but  retained  their 
Western  character. 

The  Jews,  who  were  now  thrown  into  hos- 
tility against  Paul,  took  advantage  of  the 
division  of  feeling.  The  Romans  held  the 
reins  of  government,  as  the  privileged  class. 
To  them  the  Jews  went  for  aid,  reaching  them 
through  the  ladies  of  their  order.  Luke  does 
not  tell  what  formal  charge  was  brought 
against  Paul ;  but  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  he 
and  Barnabas  were  accused  of  disturbing  the 
harmony  of  the  State,  a  vague  yet  a  dangerous 
pretext,  which  brought  about  their  expulsion. 

Iconium,  still  called  Konia,  to  which  Paul 
and  Barnabas  fled  from  Antioch,  was  not  a 
Roman  Colony  but  a  Hellenized  city,  that  is, 
a  city  in  which  Greek  constitutional  methods 
of  government  by  elected  magistrates  had  been 
established,  and  Greek  civilization  and  educa- 
tion flourished.  The  people  prided  themselves 
that  Iconium  was  the  most  ancient  of  cities, 
existing  before,  and  rebuilt  immediately  after, 
the  flood.  The  King  of  Iconium  at  the  flood 
was   Nannakos;   and   in   Greece   it   became   a 


4o6   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

proverbial  expression  for  immemorial  antiq- 
uity to  say  ''older  than  Nannakos,"  as  we  say 
"before  the  flood"  or  "antediluvian." 

In  this  belief  that  Iconium  v^as  the  most 
ancient  of  cities,  there  is  an  interesting  analogy 
with  Damascus,  where  the  same  belief  has  al- 
ways been  held.  The  situation  of  the  two 
cities  is  very  similar.  Each  lies  on  a  lofty 
level  plain,  Damascus  2300,  Iconium  3370, 
feet  above  the  sea.  Each  lies  at  the  western 
edge  of  the  plain,  which  stretches  far  away  to 
the  east,  but  is  bounded  by  mountains  a  few 
miles  to  the  west  of  the  city.  Each  is  well 
supplied  with  water  that  flows  down  from  the 
mountains  on  the  west ;  but  the  small  streams 
that  come  to  Iconium  and  are  exhausted  in  the 
city  cannot  compare  in  size  with  the  rivers  that 
rush  through  Damascus  to  lose  themselves  in 
the  thirsty  plain  on  the  east.  Each  city,  how- 
ever, profits  by  the  abundant  water;  the  fer- 
tile soil  becomes  a  great  garden;  both  are 
green  with  trees  which  are  conspicuous  in  the 
distant  view,  and  gladden  the  eyes  of  the 
traveller  approaching  across  the  dry  plains. 
Yet  there  is  no  monotony  in  the  view  from 
either  city  across  the  vast  plains,  for  character 


Influe7ice  of  Local  Circumsta7ices  407 

and  variety  are  imparted  by  mountain  peaks 
which  rise  sharply  here  and  there  Hke  islands 
in  an  ocean. 

Iconium  and  Damascus  were  also  alike  in 
being  both  cities  rather  of  peace  and  com- 
merce, than  of  war.  Neither  could  be  made  a 
strong  city  in  ancient  methods  of  warfare  ex- 
cept by  walls  of  vast  size  like  those  of  Baby- 
lon ;  neither  was  guarded  by  difficult  and  steep 
approaches.  Their  importance  lay  in  their 
productiveness  and  the  wealth  which  they  de- 
rived from  agriculture  and  trade.  Both  must 
attract  inhabitants  from  the  beginning  of  or- 
ganized human  society,  and  their  proud  claim 
to  vast  antiquity  was  based  on  truth  and  fact. 
Damascus  has  bulked  far  more  largely  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  than  Iconium,  because  it 
lay  closer  to  the  great  peoples  of  ancient  his- 
tory, Jews,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Egyp- 
tians, Arabs. 

The  problem  of  associating  in  one  city  the 
alien  and  often  hostile  minds  and  manners  of 
Asiatics  and  Europeans  was  attempted  in  dif- 
ferent ways  at  Iconium,  at  Antioch,  and  at 
Tarsus;  but  in  all  those  great  cities  of  Asia 
Minor  the  same  problem  was  engaging  atten- 


4o8    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

tion,  and  varied  constitutions  and  laws  were 
framed  to  make  possible  a  peaceful  amalga- 
mation of  the  diverse  elements.  In  Iconium 
the  Hellenic  element  consisted  mainly  of  the 
educated  and  Hellenized  part  of  the  native 
population,  with  some  immigrant  Greeks.  But 
it  reckoned  itself  a  Hellenic  city,  and  its 
inhabitants  are  correctly  called  Hellenes  by 
Luke,  whereas  he  never  uses  that  term  about 
Antioch  or  Lystra,  which  were  Roman  Colo- 
nies.^ Even  in  such  a  small  detail  as  that  he 
is  strictly  accurate. 

Shortly  before  Paul  visited  Iconium  the 
Emperor  Claudius  had  observed  and  rewarded 
the  loyalty  of  Iconium  by  granting  to  it  the 

*  While  in  Lystra  there  were  a  few  Hellenes,  the 
mass  of  the  population  were  Lycaonians.  In  Pisidian 
Antioch  the  mass  of  the  people  were  Phrygians,  and  in 
Philippi,  Macedonians ;  but  a  larger  proportion  of  these 
had  received  a  Greek  education  than  in  Lystra.  In  all 
such  Colonies  the  non-Roman  inhabitants  were  summed 
up  in  Latin  as  plehs,  the  plebeians  or  the  multitude, 
and  Luke  employs  the  correct  Greek  term  which  was 
used  regularly  as  a  translation  of  plehs.  Only  in  Cor- 
inth does  he  call  the  mass  of  the  people  Hellenes, 
though  it  was  a  Roman  Colony;  but  in  Corinth  the 
whole  mass  of  the  population  were  Hellenes  by  blood 
and  race,  and  in  geographical  fact. 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances  409 

title  Claudian;  and  it  long  was  known  as  the 
city  Claudiconitim.  This,  however,  did  not 
make  it  a  Roman  Colony.  It  continued  to  be 
a  Hellenic  city  throughout  the  time  when  Paul 
was  visiting  it  (as  is  implied  in  Acts  and  as  is 
proved  by  coins  and  inscriptions).  Hadrian 
honored  it  with  the  rank  and  privileges  of  a 
Colony  about  eighty  years  later. 

Corresponding   to   the    difference    between 
Antioch,  where  an  aristocracy  of  Roman  col- 
onists was  the  ruling  influence,  and  Hellenic 
Iconium,  where  power  lay  with  the  whole  body 
of  citizens,  were  Paul's  experiences  in  the  two 
cities.    From  Antioch  he  had  been  expelled  by 
Jewish  foes  who  influenced  the  ladies  of  the 
aristocracy.     In  Iconium  those  enemies  had  to 
accomplish  the  same  object  by  working  on  the 
feelings  of  the  general  body  of  citizens,  which 
is  a  slower  process;  and  while  it  was  gohig 
on  Paul  "tarried  there  a  long  time  speaking 
boldly."      Gradually   "the  population  of   the 
city  was  divided,  and  part  held  with  the  Jews 
and  part  with  the  Apostles."     The  process  is 
characteristic  of  popular  government,  such  as 
Hellenic  cities  loved.     Paul  was  thus  able  to 
stay  a  long  time  in  Iconium;  and  it  is  not 


4IO   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

strange  that  the  city  appears  in  subsequent  his- 
tory as  a  very  important  Christian  centre,  send- 
ing its  influence  far  through  central  Asia 
Minor. 

Iconium  was  the  last  city  of  Phrygia; 
and  the  two  Apostles  after  leaving  it  crossed 
the  frontier  and  came  into  the  region  of 
Lycaonia  with  its  two  cities,  Lystra  and  Derbe. 
There  was  another  part  of  Lycaonia,  which 
was  not  at  tliat  time  within  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, and  therefore  lay  outside  the  limits  which 
Paul  set  to  his  work.  Lystra  was,  like  Anti- 
och,  a  Roman  Colony,  with  a  body  of  Roman 
settlers  among  a  large  population  of  rude 
Lycaonian  rustics.  It  lay  in  an  open  valley 
among  the  hills,  close  to  the  junction  of  two 
streams  which  flow  from  the  western  moun- 
tains into  the  plain  twenty  miles  south  of 
Iconium.  It  never  exercised  much  influence 
on  the  development  of  the  country,  but  re- 
mained a  small  rural  town  to  the  end,  always 
attracting  some  population  and  deriving  mod- 
erate wealth  from  its  fertile  valley,  but  by  its 
secluded  position  unsuited  ever  to  become 
great.  The  character  of  this  rude,  uneducated 
country  town  appears  in  all  Paul's  adventures 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances   411 

there.  Though  Greek  was  certainly  the  lan- 
guage in  which  he  preached,  yet  Lycaonian, 
not  Greek  (which  only  educated  people  knew), 
was  the  language  most  familiar  to  his  wor- 
shippers; Paul's  appeal  to  them  was  in  the 
simple  style  which  suited  a  rustic  people:  the 
populace  was  easily  turned  from  the  extreme 
of  adoration  to  the  extreme  of  hatred.  There 
were  some  Hellenes  in  Lystra,  among  them 
Timothy,  as  we  learn  later,  and  Paul  reached 
this  educated  class;  but  on  the  whole  he  had 
not  great  success.  Both  the  rude  Lycaonian 
mob  and  the  Roman  aristocracy  remained  out- 
side of  his  influence.  It  was  the  vigorous, 
progressive  people  of  the  middle  class,  fairly 
educated,  but  yet  neither  cultured  dilettanti 
nor  self-satisfied  philosophers,  among  whom 
Paul  found  most  hearers  and  converts,  though 
there  were  in  every  city  a  few  from  the  higher 
classes  and  a  considerable  number  of  the 
humblest  attracted  by  his  teaching. 

Derbe,  where  Paul  made  many  disciples, 
was  a  city  of  the  open  plain,  on  a  great  road. 
It  derived  some  importance  at  this  time  from 
its  position  as  a  frontier  city  of  the  Empire, 
where  customs  had  to  be  levied  on  imports, 


4 1 2    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

and  business  was  active.  But  like  Lystra  it 
never  became  important  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  and  almost  disappeared  from  notice 
during  the  fifth  century  and  later.  It  is  to  us 
little  more  than  a  name. 

The  great  service  to  Pauline  study  of  fix- 
ing exactly  the  site  of  Lystra,  and  approxi- 
mately that  of  Derbe,  w^as  rendered  by  an 
American  scholar  and  traveller.  Professor 
Sterrett  of  Cornell. 

Ephesus,  the  commercial  capital  of  the  great 
and  wealthy  province  of  Asia,  was  not  in 
Paul's  time  the  official  capital.  Hence  he 
never  came  in  contact  with  the  Governor  of 
the  province,  as  he  did  at  Corinth  with  the 
Governor  of  Achaia  and  in  Paphos  with  the 
Governor  of  Cyprus.  It  is  quite  clear  that 
when  the  riot,  which  was  caused  by  Demetrius 
and  allayed  by  the  secretary,  to  the  city,  took 
place,  there  was  no  provincial  Governor  resi- 
dent in  Ephesus. 

The  city,  whose  deserted  site  is  now  five 
miles  from  the  sea,  was  in  the  first  century  a 
seaport,  the  most  important  in  the  whole  of 
Asia.  To  the  Romans,  Asia  was  the  name  of 
the  province  which  included  the  western  part 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances  413 

of  Asia  Minor :  it  was  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  province  of  Galatia,  and  on  the  north  by 
the    Dardanelles    and    by    the    province    of 
Bithynia ;  and  it  ranked  as  the  most  important 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  so  far  as  education  and 
wealth    were    concerned.      Ephesus    was    the 
great  harbor,  at  the  old  mouth  of  the  Cayster, 
from  which  the  products  of  both  the  province 
and  many  remoter  parts  of  the  continent  of 
Asia  were  carried  to  Rome.     It  was  the  sea- 
end  of  great  routes  which  stretched  far  away 
across  Asia  Minor  and  the  Continent.     It  was 
the  gate  through  which  Asia  looked  out  to- 
ward Europe.     Hence  already  on  his  second 
journey  Paul  was  evidently  bent  on  entering 
the  province  Asia  and  going  to  Ephesus;  but 
he    was    forbidden    by    Divine    command    to 
preach  in  the  province  Asia  at  that  time,  and 
was  finally,  after  long  wandering,  conducted 
to  Europe. 

Owing  to  this  change  of  plan  on  the  second 
journey  the  advance  of  the  new  Faith  beyond 
Galatia  did  not  proceed  evenly.  Paul  found 
himself  following  the  line  of  the  land-road 
from  the  East  to  Rome,  by  way  of  Troas  and 
Macedonia.      Philippi    and    Amphipolis    and 


414    Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

Thessalonica  lay  on  this  land-road ;  and,  for  a 
time,  it  seemed  as  if  Paul's  work  were  to  be 
carried  on  along  its  course;  but  again  he  was 
diverted  from  it,  and  at  last  he  planted  his 
feet  firmly  on  the  great  central  highway  from 
the  East  by  way  of  Ephesus  and  Corinth  to 
Rome. 

Corinth  seems  to  have  exercised  a  marked 
influence  on  Paul.  There  he  came  to  realize 
that  the  Roman  Imperial  administration  was 
the  protector  of  the  weak  against  the  strong, 
and  the  maintainer  of  order  and  peace  in  the 
cities  and  provinces.  In  the  Hellenic  cities 
the  Jews  or  the  mob  could  generally  manage 
to  sway  the  magistrates  against  a  stranger  like 
himself.  Even  in  the  Roman  Colonies,  Lystra, 
Pisidian  Antioch,  Philippi,  the  magistrates 
were  too  near  the  native  character.  But, 
when  he  reached  the  presence  of  the  higher 
Roman  officials,  such  as  Sergius  Paulus  and 
Gallio,  he  experienced  fair,  sometimes  even 
sympathetic,  treatment,  founded  on  wide 
general  principles  of  policy  and  independent 
of  narrow  local  interests  and  considerations. 
The  scheme  for  the  conquest  of  the  Roman 
Empire  now  grew  clearer  in  his  mind;  it  had 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances   415 

been  present  long  ago  to  him,  but  now  he  saw 
the  best  means  to  that  end,  and  he  carried  it 
out  through  all  his  future  career. 

Apart  from  this  there  is  no  proof  that  the 
special  character  or  surroundings  of  Corinth 
exercised  on  Paul  any  serious  influence.  Es- 
pecially, the  theory  that  he  was  affected  by  its 
proximity  to  the  seat  of  the  Isthmian  Games 
or  of  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries  seems  wholly 
groundless.  There  were  Games  and  Mysteries 
in  all  parts  of  the  Hellenic  world,  and  Paul 
had  long  ago  learned  what  their  character  was. 
The  education  and  the  superficial,  rather  con- 
ceited and  opinionative,  philosophy,  which  was 
common  in  Corinth  and  Athens,  exercised 
a  repellent  effect  on  him.  He  recognized  that 
the  self-satisfied  philosopher  was  the  slowest 
to  believe  and  the  hardest  to  convince.  But 
the  position  of  Corinth  as  the  key  of  communi- 
cation along  the  central  artery  of  the  Empire, 
as  a  point  where  many  men  from  all  quar- 
ters of  the  world  met  in  passing,  impressed  on 
him  the  importance  of  constant  intercourse  in 
the  formation  and  maintenance  of  a  world- 
wide Church. 

On  his  third  journey,  after  going  through 


4 1 6   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

the  Churches  of  Galatia,  Paul  went  straight  to 
Ephesus,  visiting  no  other  city  by  the  way. 
He  had  learned  ere  this  that  the  best  way  of 
reaching  the  people  was  not  to  go  over  the 
smaller  cities  one  by  one,  but  to  proceed  direct 
to  the  capital  of  each  province.  In  the  capital 
he  had  the  opportunity  of  addressing,  not 
merely  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  itself,  but 
also  numbers  of  people  who  for  one  reason  or 
another  came  to  the  principal  city,  some  for 
business,  some  for  religion,  some  for  law, 
some  for  education  or  curiosity.  Especially 
the  religion  of  the  great  goddess  of  Ephesus, 
Artemis  or  Diana,  exercised  a  strong  influence 
over  the  whole  province  Asia.  Many  people 
came  on  pilgrimage  to  worship.  More  came 
to  see  the  magnificent  ceremonies  and  splendid 
games,  by  which  the  magistrates  and  wealthy 
citizens  honored  the  festivals  of  Diana  and 
made  the  city  brilliant.  Such  magnificent  cere- 
monies cost  large  sums  of  money;  but  the  ex- 
penditure was  productive,  because  hosts  of 
visitors  were  attracted  to  the  shows,  and  spent 
money  freely  in  Ephesus.  Here  Paul  estab- 
lished himself  for  a  long  residence,  and  exer- 
cised a  strong  influence  on  the  people.     Some 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances  417 

of  the  chief  men  of  the  province,  wealthy  per- 
sons who  were  appointed  priests  in  the  worship 
paid  by  the  province  to  the  Roman  Emperors 
as  the  embodiments  of  Divine  power  on  earth, 
were  his  friends.  The  persons  who  practised 
magic,  and  who  were  also  dabblers  in  science 
and  investigators  of  the  secrets  of  nature  and 
practisers  of  spiritualistic  arts,  found  that 
their  influence  was  much  diminished. 

The  votaries  of  the  goddess,  who  used  to 
buy  offerings  to  present  to  the  goddess,  now 
went  to  listen  to  Paul ;  and  all  the  trades  which 
ministered  to  the  wants  of  devotees  were 
seriously  affected.  The  theatre,  in  which  the 
rioters  gathered  to  shout  their  adoration  of  the 
goddess  and  their  hatred  of  Paul,  is  still  a 
stately  ruin  of  vast  size;  and  a  broad  street 
leads  down  from  its  northern  extremity  to 
the  ancient  harbor  (now  a  swamp  covered 
with  reed-s). 

Though  Paul  founded  many  other  Churches 
in  the  province  Asia,  this  was  done  through 
his  helpers,  such  as  Timothy,  Titus,  and  others. 
He  himself  says  that  he  had  never  seen  the 
faces  of  the  Colossians  or  the  Laodiceans ;  but 
he  wrote  to  them,  and  he  sent  envoys  to  speak 


41 8   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

in  his  name.  Miletus,  on  the  south  shore  of 
the  gulf  into  which  the  Maeander  used  to  fall, 
though  its  former  shore-line  is  now  many 
miles  distant  from  the  sea,  because  the  river 
has  completely  filled  up  the  gulf,  Paul  did 
visit  more  than  once.  His  ship  stayed  there 
in  A.D.  57,  and  the  Ephesian  elders  came  to 
hear  his  farewell  message;  and  again  years 
later,  after  he  had  returned  from  the  great 
trial  in  Rome,  we  know  that  he  was  in  Miletus 
and  left  his  faithful  friend  Trophimus  there 
sick. 

Troas  played  the  greatest  part  in  Paul's  life 
of  all  the  cities  in  Asia  except  Ephesus.  It 
was  a  Roman  Colony,  and  a  harbor  of  import- 
ance for  communication  with  the  coasts  of 
Macedonia.  It  was  also  the  sea-end  of  one  or 
more  roads  from  the  northern  parts  of  Asia 
Minor.  Thus  Paul  came  down  to  Troas  on 
his  second  journey.  There  he  found  Luke. 
There  he  had  the  dream  which  beckoned  him 
on  into  Europe.  From  Troas  he  sailed  for 
Philippi.  Again  at  a  later  date,  when  forced 
to  leave  Ephesus,  he  came  to  Troas  intending 
to  sail  for  Macedonia;  but  finding  there  an 
open  door  he  stayed  for  some  time  in  mission 


Influence  of  Local  Circumstances  419 

work.  Again  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  he 
sailed  from  Macedonia  to  Troas.  Many  years 
later,  he  again  visited  this  important  harbor  in 
his  progress  round  the  ^gean  Churches ;  and 
there  he  left  the  cloak,  whose  want  he  felt  in 
the  winter  following. 

In    this    review    of    the    geographical    sur- 
roundings amid  which  Paul's  life  was  spent, 
we  see  how  the  human  spirit  gradually  emanci- 
pates itself  from  the  influence  of  external  cir- 
cumstances,   and   attains     to     dominion    over 
them.      It   is    evident   that   the   conditions   of 
life  in  Tarsus  and  Jerusalem  had  great  effect 
in  forming  Paul's  views  and  opinions.     As  his 
character   grew   stronger  and   his   outlook  on 
the  world  gained  breadth,  he  gradually  learned 
to  use  for  his  purposes  geographical  and  other 
external    conditions.      All    the    resources    of 
civilization,  all  the  opportunities  of  life,  were 
employed  by  him  with  increasing  skill  and  ever 
widening  experience  to  further  his  aims.    The 
pressure  of  external  conditions  drove  him  to 
Pisidian  Antioch,  yet  in  that  region  he  made 
those    conditions    subservient    to    his    plans. 
During  the  latter  part  of  his  career  it  is  evi- 
dent that  in  such  cities  as  Ephesus  and  Troas 


420   Pictures  of  the  Apostolic  Church 

it  was  no  longer  the  local  circumstances  which 
moulded  him,  but  he  who  employed  the  local 
circumstances  for  the  advantage  of  his  work. 
He  used  the  opportunities  of  nature,  the  "open 
door,"  with  the  genius  of  a  great  adminis- 
trator. 


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